I  <  t  i*  t*t*l 


AN    ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  IN  WALES,  OCTOBER  5,  1862 ; 


THE  CENTEMIAL  AMIYERSARY 


OF  THE 


Municipal  Organization  of  the  Town; 


WITH     ADDITIONS     AND     EXTENSIONS    UPON     SOME     MATTERS 

NEEDFUL  TO  BRING  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  TOWN 

DOWN    TO    JANUARY    1,    1866. 


TO  WHICH  IS  ANNEXED  A 


^'EOLL    OF    HONOR," 

BEING  A  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  NAMES,  ETC.,  OP  SOLDIERS  FROM 

THIS  TOWN  WHO  SERVED  IN  THE  ARMIES  OF  OUR 

GOVERNMEMT  IN  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR. 


ABSALOM    GAEDNER. 


PUBLISHED   BY  REQUEST. 


SPRINGFIELD: 
SAMUEL    BOWLES    AND    COMPANY,    PRINTERS. 
18  6  6. 


H  »  »  M  T  >  I  H  H  >  M  M  M  f  »■»  f  T  f  »  >  »  >  M  >■ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
AT  AMHERST 


UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

Special  Collections  &  Rare  Bookj 


AN    ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  IN  WALES,  OCTOBER  5,  1862  ; 


BEINO 


THE  CENTEMIAL  AAWIYERSARY 


Municipal  Organization  of  the  Town; 


WITH     ADDITIONS     AND     EXTENSIONS    UPON     SOME     MATTERS 

NEEDFUL  TO  BRING  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  TOWN 

DOWN    TO    JANUARY    1,    1866. 


TO   WHICH   IS   ANNEXED  A 


'^EOLL    OF    HONOR 


BEING  A  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  NAMES,  ETC.,  OF  SOLDIERS  FROM 

THIS  TOWN   WHO   SERVED   IN   THE   ARMIES   OF   OUR 

GOVERNMEMT  IN  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR. 


ABSALOM    GARDINER. 


PUBLISHED    BY   REQUEST. 


SPRINGFIELD: 
SAMUEL    BOWLES    &    COMPANY,    PRINTERS. 

18  6  6. 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Fellow  Citizens  and  Townsmen  : 

It  is  the  custom  with  many  of  the  towns  of  our  Com- 
monwealth, in  some  suitable  way,  to  commemorate  the 
centennial  anniversaries  of  their  settlement,  or  of  their 
municipal  organization.  And  this  seems  very  appropri- 
ate, as  showing  in  the  people  of  this  age  a  due  apprecia- 
tion of  the  labors  and  toils  of  their  ancestors — as  mani- 
festing a  magnanimous  and  ennobling  sense  of  gratitude 
toward  the  pioneer  settlers  of  our  land,  and  the  fathers 
and  founders  of  our  municipal  establishments  and  civil 
institutions.  Our  fathers  and  our  mothers,  with  great 
assiduity  and  heroic  fortitude,  and  under  many  and  great 
privations  and  discomforts,  labored  and  toiled  to  trans- 
form a  wilderness  country,  inhabited  only  by  wild  beasts 
and  savages,  into  cultivated  fields  and  fruitful  lands  befit- 
ting the  abode  of  civilized  man,  and  to  establish  institu- 
tions worthy  the  character  and  conducive  to  the  happiness 
of  man  in  an  enlightened  and  refined  state.  Is  it  not 
meet,  then,  that  we,  who  are  now  reaping  a  rich  harvest 
of  benefits  from  the  life-long  toils  of  our  ancestors,  should 
devote  an  hour  in  manifesting  a  grateful  recognition  of 
those  toils,  and  in  commemorating  the  virtues  of  those 
noble  souls  who  wisely  laid  the  foundations  of  a  very 
large  share  of  our  present  civil  and  social  enjoyments  ? 


Since  the  date  of  the  municipal  organization  of  this 
town,  a  century  has  rolled  its  hundred  years  into  the 
abyss  of  the  past,  the  grave  of  Time,  and  long  ago  car- 
ried all  the  participators  in  the  transactions  of  that  day 
into 

"  That  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn 
No  traveler  returns." 

And  we,  the  descendants  and  successors  of  those  noble 
actors,  are  here  at  this  hour  to  devote  a  little  time  to 
the  consideration  of  matters  pertaining  to  the  history  of 
our  town,  not  only  contemporaneous  with  that  event,  but 
prior  and  posterior,  together  with  some  biographical 
sketches  of  some  of  the  first  settlers,  and  other  principal 
inhabitants  of  olden  time. 

BRIMFIELD,  ORIGINALLY 
Comprised  the  territory  now  included  within  the  lines  of 
the  present  towns  of  Brimfield,  Monson,  Wales  and  Hol- 
land. In  1760  the  west  half  of  this  domain  was  set  off 
and  incorporated  as  the  "Town  of  Monson."  Two  years 
later,  1762,  by  act  of  the  Collonial  Legislature,  another 
slice  four  miles  wide,  north  and  south,  was  dissevered 
from  the  parent  town,  upon  the  south  side,  and  incor- 
porated into  a  separate  municipalit}^  by  name  of  the 
"District  of  South  Brimfield." 

MUNICIPAL   ORGANIZATION. 

On  the  5th  day  of  October,  1762,  the  people  of  the 
"District  of  South  Brimfield,"  under  the  aforesaid  act  of 
incorporation,  organized  by  the  choice  of  the  following 
municipal  officers : 

Captain  Joseph  Blodgett,  District  Clerk ;  Mr.  Humphrey  Need- 
ham,  Deacon  Humphrey  Cram,  Captain  Anthony  Needham,  Mr. 
Nehemiah  May,  Mr.  John  Moultou,  Selectmen ;  Mr.  Daniel  Thomp- 
son, Constable. 

The  two  sections  of  this  district,  for  some  time  after 
its  organization,  bore  no  other  distinguishing  appellation 
than  the  simple  designations  of  "West  Part"  and  "East 


Part."  But  after  a  little  time  these  "  Parts "  lost  or 
changed  their  substantive  names,  retaining  their  designa- 
tory  adjectives,  in  becoming  organized  and  known  as  the 
""West  Parish"  and  "East  Parish  "  of  South  Brimfield. 
These  parishes,  however,  continued  as  a  single  munici- 
pality for  a  term  of  twenty-one  years,  that  was  till  1783, 
when  both  came  to  feel  that  they  had  become  "of  age," 
and  mutually  agreed  to  separate,  and  their  separation  w^as 
authoritatively  consummated  by  act  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture of  that  year.  By  that  act  the  East  Parish  was  set  ofi 
and  incorporated  as  the  "District  of  Holland,"  leaving 
the  West  Parish  in  area,  four  miles  north  and  south,  and 
three  and  one-half  miles,  very  nearly,  east  and  west, 
thenceforward  to  constitute  the  town  of  South  Brimfield. 
In  those  days,  it  was  customary  in  the  division  of 
towns,  to  incorporate  the  part  set  off,  sometimes  as  a 
town  and  sometimes  as  a  district.  In  either  case  the  mu- 
nicipal rights  and  powers  were  the  same,  substantially, 
excepting  only  the  right  of  representation  in  the  Legisla- 
ture; every  town  could  send  a  representative — no  district 
could  do  this.  South  Brimfield  was  incorporated  a  dis- 
trict in  1762;  in  1775  the  Legislature  enlarged  its  powers 
to  those  of  a  town,  and  that  year  the  town  of  South 
Brimfield  sent  her  first  representative  to  the  "  Great  and 
General  Court." 

CHAN'GE   OF  IN^AME. 

In  1827  the  people  of  this  town  became  desirous  of 
changing  their  town's  municipal  name.  One,  and  per- 
haps the  principal  reason  creative  of  that  desire,  was  the 
wish  for  a  less  prolix,  a  shorter  name.  A  town  meet- 
ing was  held  upon  the  subject,  at  which  it  was  voted  that 
the  town  should  be  named  Clinton.  This  did  not  give 
satisfaction.  Moreover,  it  had  become  whispered  around 
that  James  L.  Wales,  Esq.,  one  of  our  then  most  promi- 
nent citizens,  had  incorporated,  or  expressed  a  purpose  to 
incorporate  into  his  will,  a  clause  making  to  the  town  a 


6 

generous  bequest.  Another  town  meeting  was  called,  at 
which  the  action  of  the  previous  meeting  was  annulled, 
and  whereat  it  was  further  voted  that  the  name  of  the 
town  should  be  Wales.  In  accordance  with  this  vote, 
and  a  petition  based  thereon,  the  General  Court  of  1828, 
by  legislative  enactment,  changed  the  town's  name,  dis- 
carding that  of  South  Brimfield,  and  in  substitution  giv- 
ing it  that  of  Wales,  which  was,  and  is  very  palatable  to 
all  our  people.  And  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to 
add,  that  the  anticipated  legacy  from  the  generous  indi- 
vidual named  was  fully  realized — the  legacy  of  an  estate 
that,  since  the  town  has  had  it  in  possession,  has  yielded 
the  town  an  income  of  more  than  $4,000  over  all  ex- 
pense and  trouble. 

But  we  will  now  retrace  our  steps  backward  to  what 
was  perhaps  our  most  proper  starting  point. 

THE  FIRST   SETTLEMENT   OF   THE   TOWN. 

And  here,  anticipating  the  inquiry  which  the  lover  of 
antiquarian  lore  will  first  and  most  persistently  press  upon 
us,  we  are  constrained  in  all  candor  and  frankness  to  say, 
there  is  no  known  evidence  extant  by  which  it  can  now 
be  determined  precisely  when,  where,  and  by  whom  the  very 
first  settlement  in  this  town  was  made.  Nevertheless,  in 
respect  to  all  these  matters,  we  can,  by  the  aid  of  recorded 
facts  and  traditional  sayings,  approximate  very  near  the 
marks  of  absolute  certainty. 

The  primeval  settlers  of  this  town  did  not  keep  diaries 
of  their  doings  and  concurrent  events ;  or  if  they  did,  the 
roll  of  years  and  the  sweep  of  time  long  since  consigned 
all  their  memoranda  to  that  vast  receptacle  of  by-gone 
occurrences,  the  pit  of  oblivion,  and  we  are  now  none  the 
wiser  for  them.  All  historiefs  of  first  settlements  and  oc- 
currences of  any  region,  written  long  subsequent  to  the 
times  of  such  settlements  and  occurrences,  are  more  or 
less  encumbered,  or  their  facts  intermixed  with  romance 


and  fiction,  and  no  one  may  be  able  to  separate  the  true 
from  the  false.  Tradition,  in  regard  to  the  outlines  and 
prominent  features  of  events  long  past,  may  be  measura- 
bly reliable;  but  when  tradition  stoops  to  dabble  in  the 
minutia  of  such  events,  her  sayings  are  not  trustworthy. 

Though,  according  to  the  most  approved  history,  some 
settlements  were  efl'ected  in  the  central,  and  perhaps  other 
parts  of  the  present  town  of  Brimfield  prior  to  1720,  yet 
there  seems  a  lack  of  any  conclusive  evidence  that  any 
white  settlers  were  permanently  domiciled  within  the  lines 
now  circumscribing  this  town  earlier  than  1726,  although 
there  were  sales,  purchases,  transfers,  and  a  limited  occu- 
pation of  lands  inside  of  these  lines  at  an  earlier  day. 
For  instance,  the  tract  now  generally  known  in  our  local 
parlance  as  the  "Coburn  Meadow,"  but  then  called  the 
"South  Meadow,"  was  occupied  by  the  settlers  in  the 
now  central  part  of  Brimlield,  very  soon  after  settlement 
was  there  effected,  by  the  cutting  of  the  grass  there  grown, 
and  transporting  the  same  to  the  place  of  that  settlement, 
for  feeding  their  beasts  and  herds.  And  it  may  not  be 
inappropriate  to  say  in  this  connection,  that  there  is  strong 
reason  to  believe,  though  not  indubitable  proof,  that  the 
first  way  fixed  in  this  town  for  the  travel  of  man  and  beast 
was  upon  the  line  of  what  we  now  call  the  "  Old  County 
Road,"  upon  the  east  border  of  our  town,  and  leading 
direct  from  Brimfield  center  to  the  aforesaid  "  South 
Meadow." 

As  to  the  matter  of  time,  then,  finding  the  same  envel- 
oped in  some  obscurit}^,  we  rest  upon  the  belief  that  the 
first  settlement  permanently  fixed  in  this  town  was  made 
in  or  about  1726.  And,  connectively  with  this,  we  are 
next  to  encounter  these  rugged  questions— z^'Aert,  and  by 
ichom  was  that  settlement  made  ?  If  we  could  brush  away 
the  somber  shades  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  by-gone, 
undoubtedly  we  might,  with  scrupulous  exactness,  deter- 
mine these  matters.  But  we  cannot  now  undo  the  past, 
nor  create  facts  for  retrospective  application.     The  most 


8 

we  can  do  is  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  the  facts  of 
which  we  now  find  ourselves  in  possession. 

There  is  satisfactory  evidence,  gleaned  from  recorded 
facts,  that  the  elder  John  Bullen,  with  his  famil}',  was  lo- 
cated in  1727,  if  not  a  year  sooner,  upon  the  premises  now 
owned  by  the  widow  of  our  lately  deceased  townsman, 
Mr.  Samuel  L.  Moulton,  bordering  on  the  Coburn  Meadow ; 
and  also,  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  elder  Anthony  Need- 
ham,  with  his  family,  was  domiciled  upon  the  premises 
now  constituting  the  homestead  of  our  neighbor,  Mr.  Na- 
than Green,  west  of  the  Pond.  That  there  were  then 
other  settlers  in  those  localities,  or  elsewhere  in  the  town, 
may  be  guessed,  but  not  proved.  Taking  then  the  cri- 
teria which  we  have,  and  knowing  of  no  other  data  war- 
ranting adverse  conclusions,  we  feel  irresistibly  led  to  be- 
lieve that  John  Bullen  and  Anthony  Needham  were  the 
first  domiciliated  in  this  town,  and  upon  the  premises  al- 
ready indicated.  Further  than  this,  touching  the  matters 
in  question,  we  cannot  exhume  anything  reliable  from 
under  the  rubbish  of  uncertainty  that  encumbers  much  of 
what  in  those  early  times  occurred.  Hence  we  pass  on 
to  our 

BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

The  Needhams  were  evidentl}^  among  the  very  first  set- 
tlers of  this  town.  Anthony  was  first  here.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Molly  Moulton,  was  sister  of  the 
four  Moulton  brothers  soon  to  be  mentioned  as  among  the 
first  permanent  settlers  of  the  place.  They  reared  eleven 
children,  six  of  whom  were  sons.  The  oldest  of  these 
was  Captain  Anthony,  who  married  Rebecca  Munger,  a 
sister  of  the  four  Munger  brothers,  also  soon  to  be  named 
as  among  the  earliest  of  our  town's  settlers.  His  home- 
stead comprised  the  farms  in  the  west  part  of  the  town, 
and  which  afterward,  divided,  made  the  homesteads  of  our 
former  highly  respected  townsmen,  Alvin  Needham  and 
Cyrus  Munger.     Captain  Anthony  was  a  man  greatly  re- 


spected,  was  the  first  Representative  from  South  Brim- 
field  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and  was  the  pro- 
genitor of  some  of  the  most  noted  and  worthy  of  our 
town's  former  inhabitants,  among  whom  may  be  named 
Mr.  Alvin  Xeedham,  already  mentioned,  and  Alfred 
JSTeedham,  Esq.  Another  of  the  sons  of  Anthony,  that 
was  ]S"ehemiah,  was  forefather  of  our  late  highly  esteemed 
townsman.  Deacon  Jonathan  JSTeedham,  and  of  several 
other  E'eedham  families,  now  component  parts  of  our 
community.  A  small,  moss-covered  stone,  erected  in 
memory  of  the  eldest  Anthony  in  our  old  burying-ground, 
and  bearing  the  date  most  ancient  of  any  stone  there  be- 
ing, tells  us  that  he  died  July  2,  1763,  aged  67. 

Humphrey  ISTeedham,  junior  brother  of  Anthony,  sen- 
ior, came  hither  direct  from  Salem,  in  1728,  as  shown  by 
a  deed  he  then  took  from  Nathaniel  Munger,  of  a  tract 
of  land  here  which  subsequently  became  his  after-life 
homestead,  and  which,' at  a  more  modern  day,  being  sub- 
divided, became  the  homesteads  of  our  late  respected 
townsmen,  Danford  and  Orrin  ISTeedham,  who  were  his 
grandsons.  He  wedded  Dorothy  Munger,  sister  of  the 
Munger  brothers  alluded  to  before,  and  they  reared  ten 
children,  of  whom  our  former  much  esteemed  townsman, 
Mr.  Stephen  J^eedham,  was  the  youngest.  He  was  a 
man  of  high  standing  and  character,  and  among  the  pub- 
lic ofiices  he  filled  was  that  of  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  of  South  Brimfield  for  some  years  next  suc- 
ceeding its  organization. 

From  those  two  JSTeedham  brothers,  Anthony  and 
Humphrey,  have  descended  all  the  iN'eedhams  of  name 
and  blood  that  have  ever  been  dwellers  in  this  town;  and 
here  we  leave  them  with  this  superadded  statement,  that 
the  families  and  individuals  of  the  name  have  been  more 
numerous  than  those  of  any  other  name  ever  of  the  town. 

The  BuLLENS  were  here  cotemporaneously  with  the  first 
of  our  settlers,  and  during  the  first  sixty  years  of  the 
town's  history  were  prominent  among  the  people  here  re- 


10 

siding,  one  of  whom,  David  Bullen,  grandson  of  the  elder 
John,  who  has  been  hereinbefore  mentioned  as  the  cotem- 
porary  of  Anthony  JSTeedham  in  settlement  here,  was  the 
representative  from  this  town  in  the  Legislature  of  1780. 
The  first  death  recorded  as  occurring  in  this  town  was  that 
of  Mary  Bullen,  daughter  of  John,  senior,  who  died  July 
15,  1735 ;  but  it  is  hardly  presumable  that  this  was  actually 
the  first  occurrence  of  the  kind  in  the  place.  The  locality 
of  the  Bullen  settlement  here  has  been  before  pointed  out. 
John,  senior,  and  John,  junior,  and  their  wives,  all  died 
here,  but  all  their  posterity  of  the  paternal  name  removed 
herefrom  in  1785. 

Four  MuNGER  brothers,  Nathaniel,  Elnathan,  Samuel 
and  Joseph,  settled  and  reared  large  families  here,  and 
have  sent  forth  their  offspring  into  all  sections  of  our 
country,  yet  only  a  single  person,  an  unmarried  female  of 
ninety  years,  bearing  the  Munger  name  is  now  numbered 
amoDg  our  town's  population.  Of  those  brothers,  Dea- 
con Nathaniel  was  the  senior.  He  was  here  in  1727 ;  per- 
chance he  came  with  John  Bullen,  whose  eldest  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  he  afterwards  wedded.  He  settled,  lived,  died, 
and  was  buried  upon  what,  in  colloquial  phrase,  we  now 
denominate  the  "  Coburn  Farm."  He  reared  nine  chil- 
dren to  adult  life,  and  had  a  host  of  more  remote  descend- 
ants ;  was  twice  married,  the  last  time  in  1788,  and  died — 
no  record  telleth  when,  but  sometime  in  the  last  decade 
of  the  18th  century.  Pity  that  none  of  his  posterity  had 
the  filial  regard  or  gratitude  to  rear  at  his  grave  a  simple 
granite  or  marble  slab  to  indicate  his  place  of  burial,  his 
age,  and  the  date  of  his  demise.  His  first  son  was  Captain 
Jehial,  a  man  of  some  distinguishing  qualities,  whose  first 
wife  was  a  sister,  and  his  second  a  cousin,  of  our  former 
honored  inhabitant.  Deacon  Joel  Kogers.  He,  with  his 
family,  emigrated  in  1787  to  Vermont.  His  fourth  son  was 
Deacon  John,  for  many  years  a  prominent  citizen  of  the 
place,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  the  ownership  and  occu- 
pancy of  the  paternal  homestead  whereon  he  died  in  the 


11 

early  part  of  the  present  century,  but  no  record  or  tomb- 
stone gives  the  exact  time.  Solomon  Hunger,  of  whose 
peculiarities  and  dire  misfortunes  some  of  us  have  recol- 
lections, was  reputed  the  seventh,  though  shown  by  the 
old  Brimfield  town  records  to  have  been  the  sixth,  son  of 
Nathaniel.     He  died  in  February,  1829,  aged  78. 

Elnathan,  oldest  brother  of  Nathaniel,  settled  a  mile 
and  a  half  west  of  the  central  village  of  our  town,  had 
eight  children,  all  sons  but  one,  the  youngest,  who  became 
the  consort  of  our  former  very  respectable  townsman,  Mr. 
Paul  Stewart.  His  first  son,  Joel,  perished  in  the  revo- 
lutionary war.  His  second  son,  Darius  Munger,  Esq., 
became  in  his  meridian,  perhaps  the  most  distinguished 
personage  then  of  the  town.  He  represented  the  town 
four  years  in  the  State  Legislature,  being  one  year  more 
than  any  other  man  of  the  town  ever  served  in  that  office, 
and  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Selectmen  thirteen  years. 
He  died  November  21, 1815,  aged  70.  Deacon  Daniel  Mun- 
ger, Mr.  Cyrus  Munger,  and  Mr.  Amasa  Munger  were  all 
younger  sons  of  Elnathan,  and  all  prominent  and  highly 
respected  citizens  of  our  town,  though  Deacon  Daniel 
left  here  in  1797. 

Deacon  Samuel,  brother  of  Nathaniel  and  Elnathan, 
was  here  in  early  life,  settled,  lived  and  died  upon  the 
premises  at  this  day  making  the  homestead  of  Mr.  Arba 
Squier.  He  was  the  grandfather  of  the  only  person  of 
the  Munger  name  now  living  in  our  town. 

Joseph,  the  junior  of  the  four  Munger  brothers  afore- 
named, settled  on  the  premises  now  constituting  the 
homestead  of  Mr.  Julius  M.  Lyon.  His  second  wife, 
Naomi,  was  a  daughter  of  the  first  Anthony  Needham. 
They  had  a  large  family,  all  of  whom  removed  to  Ver- 
mont ifi  1780. 

The  MouLTONS  now  of  this  town  count  but  a  small 
number,  yet,  reckoning  from  the  start  to  the  present,  in 
families  and  individuals,  they  number  more  numerously 
than  any  other  name  except  the  Needhams. 


12 

Eev.  Ebenezer  Moulton  was  here  in  1728,  if  not  earlier. 
It  is  said  he  was  married  and  had  one  child  when  he  came 
here.  He  made  his  primal  settlement  upon  what  for  long 
time  past  has  borne  the  distinguishing  appellation  of  the 
"  Old  Wales  Tavern  Stand,"  and  it  is  not  an  improbable 
saying  of  tradition,  that  he  was  the  first  man  to  erect  the 
rude  habitation  upon,  the  first  tiller  of  the  soil  and  culti- 
vator of,  the  fields  of  that  noted  place.  The  biography  of 
this  man  is  deeply  ingrained  with  the  early  ecclesiastical 
history  of  this  town.  He  was  an  ardent  and  somewhat 
enthusiastic  advocate  and  disseminator  of  the  sentiments  of 
the  Baptists;  and  it  was  under  his  auspices,  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  him  and  his  labors,  chiefly,  that 
the  Baptist  Church  here  was  gathered  and  organized  in 
1736.  He  was  not  then  a  regularly  constituted  minister 
of  the  denomination ;  but  he  officiated  as  the  religious 
teacher  of  that  infant  church  till  November  4,  1741,  when 
he  was  formally  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry,  and  set 
over  that  church  as  their  pastor. 

At  that  day  there  was  no  other  church  of  the  Baptist 
order  anywhere  in  this  region,  and  Mr.  Moulton,  in  his 
zeal  and  laboriousness,  in  addition  to  his  duties  here,  per- 
formed much  of  a  sort  of  missionary  service  in  the  preach- 
ing and  promulgation  of  his  doctrine  in  the  neighboring 
towns  and  regions.  And  in  this  service  he  was  some- 
times made  to  feel  the  rod  of  persecution.  On  one  occa- 
sion, at  least,  after  the  conclusion  of  one  of  his  usually 
earnest  and  spirited  discourses  in  the  town  of  Sturbridge, 
he  was  abruptly  arrested  and  restrained  of  his  liberty  for 
a  brief  term,  as  a  heretic  or  religious  fanatic,  a  disturber 
of  the  public  tranquility  and  promoter  of  sedition.  But 
probably  he  was  guilty  of  no  wrong  in  the  matter,  only 
as  his  independent,  fearless  expression  of  his  own  relig- 
ious sentiments  was  considered  such,  and  that  the  action 
of  the  civil  authorities  in  the  case  of  his  arrest  was  only 
an  outbreak  of  the  persecuting  spirit  which  was  not  then 
shorn  of  all  its  malign  power. 


13 

Mr.  Moulton's  pastorate  continued  with  the  church 
here  twenty-two  years,  or  till  1763,  at  which  time  he  went 
hence  to  N^ova  Scotia.  He  was  absent  from  here  some 
twenty  years,  during  which  time,  the  saying  is,  that  he 
rendered  some  service  as  a  chaplain  in  the  British  IsTavy. 
If  this  saying  be  true,  it  tends  to  give  a  coloring  of 
truthfulness  to  another  legendary  story  concerning  him, 
which  is,  that  he  was  a  tory  during  the  time  of  our  revo- 
lutionary struggle  with  Great  Britain.  About  1783  he 
returned  hither,  and  here  soon  after  died.  His  family 
left  here  with  him  in  1763,  and  none  of  them  ever  after 
returned  here  to  tarry. 

Samuel  Moulton,  brother  of  Ebenezer,  was  here  some 
years  prior  to  his  marriage,  which,  as  says  the  record, 
was  January  30,  1739,  to  Molly  Haynes,  of  Brimfield, 
and  became  proprietor  of  a  tract  of  land  here,  which  he 
in  part  cleared  up,  and  whereupon  he  erected  a  rude 
dwelling — having  thus  provided  a  home  for  a  companion 
before  taking  one — a  very  judicious  calculation.  The 
tract  he  selected  comprised  the  premises,  or  the  lands 
now  constituting  the  homestead  of  the  widow  and  heirs 
of  our  late  respected  townsman,  Dr.  Aaron  Shaw.  But 
not  long  after  his  marriage,  he  and  his  brother  Ebenezer 
traded  and  exchanged  residences,  whereupon  he  became 
owner  and  occupant  of  what  we  term  the  "Old  Wales 
Tavern  Stand,"  upon  which,  as  the  legend  has  it,  he 
opened,  and  for  some  years  kept  an  inn,  or  house  of  pub- 
lic entertainment,  the  first  ever  kept  in  this  town.  He 
had  eight  children,  one  of  whom,  Robert,  was  the  father 
of  our  present  townsman,  Mr.  Horace  Moulton. 

John  Moulton,  brother  of  Ebenezer  and  Samuel,  was 
very  early  settled  here,  making  his  stand  andj  after-life 
home  upon  the  place  now  being  the  residence  of  our 
neighbor,  Mr.  Henry  Pratt,  near  the  outlet  of  the  Pond. 
He  was  a  man  of  some  note,  was  put  upon  the  first  Board 
of  Selectmen  of  the  town,  and  held  other  offices  of  honor 
and  trust.    He  had  six  children.    John  Bounds  Moulton, 


14 

wlio  had  the  acquaintance  of  most  of  us,  and  who  recently- 
died  just  over  our  town  line  in  Staflbrd,  was  his  grand- 
son. 

Freeborn  Moulton,  brother  of  the  three  Moultons  that 
have  been  mentioned,  settled  primarily  in  this  town  on 
the  farm  at  this  day  owned  and  occupied  by  Mr.  Wra.  L. 
Needham,  and  was  the  primeval  occupant  of  those  prem- 
ises. However,  he  did  not  stop  there  many  years,  but 
sold  that  estate  and  made  another  purchase  of  a  tract  far- 
ther west,  and  there  settled  and  became  the  forefather  of 
a  numerous  race  in  that  part  of  Monson  called  "Moulton 
Hill."  Several  families  of  his  descendants  have,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  dwelt  in  this  town,  and  among  them  that  of 
our  formerly  very  highly  esteemed  townsman,  Mr.  Jesse 
Moulton,  who  died,  deeply  lamented,  November  28,  1815, 
in  his  meridian  of  life  and  usefulness. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  settlement  here  of  the  four 
brothers  afore-named,  came  Jonathan  Moulton,  reputed 
to  have  been  a  cousin  of  those  brothers,  and  made  his 
life-long  settlement  on  what  we  call  the  "Hall  Place,"  in 
the  south-west  section  of  the  town.  He  left  a  numerous 
posterity,  one  of  whom  was  our  lately  deceased  towns- 
man, Mr.  Needham  Moulton,  his  grandson. 

There  is  a  legendary  saying  that  the  Needhams,  Mun- 
gers  and  Moultons  all  came  hither  from  Salem.  That  the 
elder  Humphrey  Needham  did  so  is  conclusively  shown, 
as  has  been  before  remarked;  but  the  elder  Anthony 
Needham  resided  some  years  in  what  is  now  Brimfield 
before  fixing  his  permanent  abode  in  this  town.  As  for 
the  four  Moulton  brothers  who  settled  here,  it  may  be 
said,  there  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  they  were 
sons  of  Robert  Moulton,  senior,  then  a  distinguished  in- 
habitant of  Brimfield,  and  the  first  Representative  from 
that  town  in  the  Collonial  Legislature  after  the  town's 
incorporation  in  1730.  Nevertheless,  all  those  persons 
may  have  come  originally,  and  to  the  original  township 
of  Brimfield,  from  Salem;  and  as  their  descendants  all 


15 

have  ever  persistently  claimed  that  derivation,  it  may  not 
be  an  unreasonable  conclusion  that  their  traditionary 
claim  is  based  in  fact. 

The  families  of  Johnsons,  Jordans  and  Hoveys  were 
among  those  foremost  in  making  their  domiciliary  lodg- 
ment in  this  place,  and  some  of  these  included  persons 
of  distinction,  especially  in  the  Baptist  Church  here  in 
its  juvenile  years.  But  as  none  of  them  have  now  living 
descendants  here  to  be  interested  in  a  development  of 
their  biographies,  and  as  no  particular  public  interest 
would  be  thereby  subserved,  we  pass  them  by  without 
the  labor  of  digging  out  such  facts  as  might  be  obtained 
from  underneath  the  rubbish  of  uncertainty  which  en- 
shrouds their  histories. 

The  Collins  families  have  never  been  numerous  here, 
and  the  name  has  been  extinct  in  our  population  for  fifty 
years  past,  though  the  blood  still  courses  in  the  veins  of 
some  of  our  people.  Nathaniel  Collins  and  Deborah 
Morgan  were  married  March  31,  1730,  which  is  the 
earliest  marriage  that  can  be  found  recorded  of  any  par- 
ties resident  in  this  town.  They  were  among  the  emi- 
grants from  Springfield  to  Brimfield,  and  fixed  their 
home  here  immediately  u]Don  their  marriage,  upon  the 
"Old  Collins  Place,"  half  a  mile  south-east  from  the 
north-west  corner  of  our  town.  There  they  lived,  reared 
a  family,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age. 

The  SHAWS  were  domiciled  here  at  an  early  period. 
Two  brothers,  Joshua  and  Seth,  held  the  title  to  a  large 
tract  lying  upon  either  side  of  where  now  runs  the  line 
between  this  tovv^n  and  Brimfield,  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
east  from  the  north-west  corner  of  this  town.  Joshua 
settled  on  the  Brimfield  side  of  this  tract,  and  Seth  upon 
this  town's  side,  in  1731,  upon  the  premises  now  making 
the  homestead  of  Mr.  Eli  Gardner.  Seth  remained  here 
till  1736,  then  removed  to  Palmer.  He  had  other  broth- 
ers than  Joshua,  and  perhaps  parents  then  resident  in 
Brimfield,  and  our  present  townsmen,    Messrs.  Daniel, 


16 

Calvin  and  Selim  C.  Shaw  are  among  tlie  descendants  of 
the  brothers  of  Seth. 

The  other  Shaws  now  of  this  town  are  of  a  different 
lineage.  Most  of  these  trace  their  origin  to  one  John 
Shaw,  who  came  hither  from  Grafton  in  1752,  and  settled 
upon  what  is  now  the  homestead  of  Mr.  Sewell  Shaw, 
who  is  grandson  of  the  said  John.  He  had  two  sons, 
John  and  Samuel;  the  first  of  these  was  father  of  our 
former  respected  townsman,  Mr.  Sjlvanus  Shaw,  and  the 
second  was  father  of  our  much  esteemed  townsmen, 
Messrs.  Aaron  and  Solomon  Shaw,  deceased,  and  Sewell 
Shaw,  now  living. 

The  Gardners  bear  an  ancient  family  name  of  this 
town.  In  1736  Seth  Shaw  traded  lands  with  Humphrey 
Gardner  of  Palmer,  whereupon  Seth  removed  to  Palmer, 
and  Humphrey  came  hither.  There  is  a  legend  to  the  fol- 
lowing purport  touching  this  trade.  Humphrey  and  his 
family  were  so  vexed  and  troubled  with  witches  in  Palmer 
that  they  could  not  endure  their  vexations  and  troubles, 
therefor  was  he  induced  to  make  the  trade  he  did  with 
Mr.  Shaw,  and  to  remove  here.  Whether  he  left  those 
vexatious  witches  in  Palmer,  or  whether  they  followed 
him  hither,  the  legend  saith  not.  Humphrey  remained 
and  died  here,  and  all  the  lands  he  acquired  from  Mr. 
Shaw  in  this  town,  have  been  owned  and  improved  by 
him  and  his  descendants  of  the  Gardner  name,  from  that 
day  to  this,  a  term  of  about  130  years.  A  parallel  case 
the  records  of  the  town  do  not  afford.  He  reared  three 
sons,  Charles,  William,  and  Humphrey.  The  two  first  of 
these  remained,  reared  families,  and  died  in  this  town ; 
Humphrey  settled  in  the  south  part  of  Monson,  there 
reared  a  family  and  died  at  an  advanced  age. 

A  number  of  Davis  families  have  been  of  this  town, 
and  divers  their  origin,  or  lines  of  descent.  One  or  two 
only  of  these  can  be  noticed.  Captain  Trustrum  Davis  is 
shown  by  olden  records  to  have  been  here  as  early  as 
1732,  domiciled  on  what  we  designate  as  the  "  Houghton 


17 

Place,"  toward  the  nortli-east  corner  of  the  town,  and  he 
is  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  settler  upon  that  farm. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  very  active,  prominent  man  of 
the  place,  for  some  thirty  or  more  years,  after  which  we 
hear  no  more  of  him  or  any  of  his  family,  except  his 
daughter  Sibyl,  who  became  the  first  consort  of  the  elder 
Asa  Houghton. 

Our  late  highly  esteemed  townsman,  Deacon  Moses 
Davis,  unrelated  by  any  recognized  ties  of  consanguinity 
to  Captain  Davis,  came  to  this  town  from  Charlton  in 
1801 ;  died  here  September  5, 1854,  aged  85.  He  was  Dea- 
con of  the  Congregational  Church  organized  in  this  town, 
and  was  father  of  our  present  townsman,  Mr.  Moses 
Davis. 

The  Greens  of  this  town  have  been  pretty  numerous. 
They  sprung  from  two  sources.  Thomas  Green,  son  of 
one  Thomas  Green  of  Brimfield,  came  hither  in  1737,  and 
established  his  abode  upon  the  lands  now  of  the  home- 
stead of  Mr.  William  Nelson,  west  of  the  pond.  He  was 
in  some  respects  peculiar,  and  rather  eccentric.  Our  for- 
mer townsmen,  the  elder  Daniel  and  Aaron  Green  were 
his  sons.  Daniel  was  a  chip  of  the  old  block ;  his  eccen- 
tricities were  proverbial. 

Eobert  Green  came  here  in  1743  from  Tolland,  Ct. 
October  11,  1744,  he  wedded  Sarah  Rogers,  sister  of  Icha- 
bod  and  Deacon  Joel  Rogers,  and  fixed  his  after-life  home 
in  almost  the  extreme  north-west  corner  of  this  town,  his 
dwelling  being  but  few  rods  south  of  that  corner,  and 
almost  exactly  upon  ground  through  which  now  runs  the 
line  between  this  town  and  Monson.  All  the  Greens  that 
have  dwelt  in  the  western  part  of  this  town  have  de- 
scended from  him,  among  whom  are  to  be  reckoned  our 
former  respected  townsmen,  Messrs.  Joel,  Amos  and  Reu- 
ben Green,  his  sons,  with  all  the  other  families  and  per- 
sons to  be  counted  as  of  their  posterity. 

To  one  or  two  of  the  Brown  families  heretofore  of  this 
town  must  we  give  a  passing  notice.     Among  the  early 
3 


18 

settlers  here  was  one  Robert  Brown,  who  came  hither 
from  Brimfield,  and  was  the  first  occupant  of  the  old 
"Hassett  Farm,"  now  the  homestead  of  Mr.  Carlton  L. 
Stebbins,  upon  which  he  remained  and  died. 

Robert  Brown,  Jr.,  son  of  Robert  afore-mentioned, 
married  Mary  Needham,  daughter  of  Captain  Anthony, 
and  established  his  abode  half  a  mile  west  of  his  father's 
residence,  near  Monson  line.  The  closing  chapter  in  his 
history,  as  avouched  by  tradition,  makes  his  case  in  one 
particular  so  remarkable  that  the  annals  of  the  town 
afford  no  parallel.  Upon  a  certain  day  he  left  his  dwell- 
ing, giving  his  family  no  intimation  or  reason  to  suspect 
that  anything  new  or  strange  was  to  occur ;  his  family 
knew  not  whither  he  went,  and,  though  great  effort  was 
made  to  find  him,  or  ascertain  what  became  of  him,  the 
sequel  was,  nothing  ever  after  was  seen  or  heard  of  him 
by  his  family,  or  any  one  else,  that  could  be  verified  as 
certainty. 

The  Carpenters,  though  never  numerous,  were  once 
noted  here.  "William  Carpenter  came  hither  about  1740, 
wedded  Hannah  j^eedham,  daughter  of  the  first  Anthon}^ 
reared  a  large  family,  abode  here  till  1782,  then  removed 
to  Stafford,  and  there  died  March  9,  1809.  His  homestead 
in  this  town  consisted  of  what  we  call  the  ""Walbridge 
Place,"  in  the  south-west  quarter  of  the  town,  and  he  is 
credited  with  being  the  primitive  occupant  of  that  farm. 
Our  old  town  records  show  that  he  generally  officiated  as 
Moderator  of  the  Town  Meetings  of  his  day.  Ho  repre- 
sented the  town  of  South  Brimfield  in  the  Convention  of 
1780,  for  the  formation  of  our  State  Constitution.  It  is 
not  known  that  any  of  his  posterity  of  name  or  blood 
have  dwelt  in  this  town  for  sixty  years  past. 

The  Rogers  families  have  been  somewhat  noted  here, 
in  regard  to  both  numerical  and  characteristic  matters. 
Two  brothers,  Ichabod  and  Joel,  were  the  progenitors  of 
all  the  Rogers  family  circles  of  this  town.  They  came 
here  from  Windham,  Ct.,  in  1748,  and  here  remained  and 


19 

died.  Ichabod  is  shown  by  olden  records  to  have  had 
thirteen,  and  to  have  reared  twelve  children,  eight  of 
whom  were  sons.  All  ;fehese  sons  but  one  married  and 
had  families  here,  and  some  of  them  very  large  families  yet 
there  is  not  now  here  one  of  the  descendants  of  Ichabod  of 
the  Rogers  name,  and  hardly  a  dozen  of  any  other  name. 
He  settled  in  the  centrally  south  part  of  tlie  town,  a  mile 
from  Stafford  line,  where  he  died  January  19, 1800,  aged  81. 

Deacon  Joel  Rogers,  brother  of  Ichabod,  has  a  long 
and  an  honorable  record  here  in  many  respects.  ISTot 
only  was  he  honored  with  official  station  and  trust  in  the 
Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  very  worthy  member, 
but  likewise  by  his  townsmen,  in  the  repeated  bestowment 
of  almost  every  municipal  office  of  responsibility  and 
trust ;  and  among  the  many  tokens  they  gave  him  of  their 
confidence  and  respect  was  that  of  selecting  him  to  repre- 
sent the  town  in  the  General  Court  of  1797.  He  settled, 
and  was  the  first  settler,  upon  the  place  now  being  the 
homestead  of  Mr.  Harding  G.  Back,  in  the  north-western 
part  of  our  town.  Our  present  somewhat  aged  and  much 
respected  townsman,  Mr.  Joel  Rogers,  is  his  grandson. 

Here  we  propose  to  digress  a  little  from  our  wonted 
course,  and  briefly  touch  upon  the  matter  of  longevity,  as 
relating  comparatively  to  some  individuals  heretofore  of 
our  town. 

Samuel  Shaw  died  here  September  15,  1841,  aged  92 
years.  James  Walker  died  here  March  8,  1847,  aged  94 
years,  nearly.  Deacon  Joel  Rogers  died  here  June  1823, 
(no  grave-stone  or  other  record  gives  the  day,)  aged  94 
years  and  8  months,  being,  as  is  believed,  the  oldest  7nan 
that  ever  yet  died  in  this  town. 

Widow  Marcilva  Needham,  relict  of  Captain  David  iTeed- 
ham,  died  here  May  20,  1853,  aged  94  years.  Widow 
Rebecca  Boml  died  here  July  22,  1845,  aged  94|  years. 
Widow  Rachel  Trask  died  here  August  9,  1845,  aged 
99  years,  1  month,  12  days,  being,  as  is  believed,  the  old'^ 
est  person  that  ever  died  in  this  town. 


20 

Joshua  Mellen,  son  of  Eev.  James  Mellen,  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  here  one  hundred  years  ago,  was  born 
here  September  14, 1765,  and  died  in  Westborough  in  this 
7  it  State,  February  22, 1858,  aged  9?years,  5  months,  8  days, 
an  age  greater  than  any  other  man  born  in  this  town  is 
known  to  have  gained. 

Annah  JSTeedham,  daughter  of  Captain  Anthony  Need- 
ham,  was  born  here  March  2,  1742,  and  died  in  Union, 
Ct.,  in  the  year  1844,  at  an  age  of  over  102  years,  and  she 
is  believed  to  have  attained  to  a  greater  age  than  any  other 
person  ever  born  in  this  town. 

The  Fenton  families  of  this  town  have  been  few,  but  to 
some  extent  distinguished.  AVilliam  Fenton,  of  Irish 
birth,  settled  here  in  1750,  in  the  north-west  part  of  our 
town,  on  land  now  making  the  homestead  of  Mr.  Anson 
Baker,  where  he  died  jSTovember  14,  1804,  aged  88.  He 
married  Anne  Shaw,  niece  of  Seth  Shaw,  of  whom  notice 
has  been  taken.  They  raised  a  family  of  two  sons  and 
seven  daughters. 

John  Fenton,  first  son  of  William,  married  Marcia 
Moulton,  daughter  of  John  Moulton,  of  whom  some  ac- 
count has  before  been  given.  He  removed  to  Brimfield 
in  1792,  where  he  reared  a  large  family,  and  died  Septem- 
ber 7,  1826,  aged  m. 

Timothy  Fenton,  second  son  of  William,  remained  upon 
the  paternal  homestead,  married  Sally  "Wales,  daughter  of 
Oliver  Wales,  senior,  and  died  in  this  town  October  23, 
1834,  aged  70.  He  had  no  offspring.  He  was  a  man  of 
considerable  distinction  in  town ;  held  many  of  the  most 
important  town  offices,  and  was  the  town's  representative 
to  the  Legislature  in  1819. 

The  Kelsons  have  been  quite  numerous  here  in  times 
past,  though  not  so  at  this  day.  Our  former  much 
esteemed  townsman,  Mr.  George  ISTelson,  lived  here  nearly 
all  his  days,  and  died  here  October  13, 1841,  aged  79.  He 
descended  from  John  Nelson,  in  early  life  a  resident  of 
Brimfield.     "Uncle  George,"  as  we  familiarly  called  him, 


21 

was  all  !N"elson,  for  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Eliza- 
beth Nelson,  as  shown  by  the  olden  record  of  the  connu- 
bial connection  of  herself  and  husband.  His  consort  was 
Susan  Fenton,  daughter  of  "William  Fenton,  of  whom 
some  account  has  been  given.  Of  their  eight  children, 
all  but  one  have  either  departed  for  the  spirit  land  or  be- 
come scattered  about  our  country  elsewhere  than  here. 

Most  of  the  other  IsTelsons  hitherto  of  this  town,  not  of 
the  posterity  of  George,  were,  or  are  descended  from  Wil- 
liam ISTelsou,  who  settled  here  about  1740,  upon  the  place 
where  his  son,  our  late  respected  townsman,  Mr.  Timothy 
N'elsou,  lived  and  died.  He  reared  ten  children,  nine  of 
whom  were  sons.  Our  former  townsman,  Mr.  Hezekiah 
Nelson,  was,  and  our  present  townsman,  Mr.  William 
Nelson,  is,  grandson  of  William. 

Of  the  DiMMiCKS  here,  Shubal  was  the  first,  and  pro- 
genitor of  all  the  others.  Sliubal  Dimmick  came  here 
from  Mansfield,  Ct.,  about  1750,  and  first  settled  upon 
what  we  call  the  "Royce  Place,"  east  of  the  pond.  After- 
wards he  erected  and  run  a  grist-mill,  which  stood  nearly 
upon  the  site  of  Mr.  Eden  D.  Shaw's  newly  erected 
factory  building.  From  the  erection  of  his  mill,  the  brook 
whereon  it  stood,  acquired,  and  for  a  half  century  there- 
after retained,  the  designated  appellation  of  "  Mill  Brook," 
as  is  evinced  by  old  records  and  deeds  wherein  mention 
thereof  is  made.  He  died  in  February,  1797,  aged  82. 
He  had  two  children — a  son  and  a  daughter. 

Gideon  Dimmick,  son  of  Shubal,  was  a  respectable  citi- 
zen of  our  town,  and  died  here  June  23,  1820,  aged  69. 
He  reared  a  large  family,  of  whom  Mr.  James  Dimmick, 
who  recently  died  in  this  town,  was  one,  and  another  is 
Mrs.  Anson  Soule,  now  living  here  at  an  age  of  nearly 
ninety  years. 

The  Winchesters  must  not  be  herein  omitted,  though 
none  of  the  name  or  blood  have  lived  here  for  the  last 
fifty  years.  Captain  Daniel  Winchester  came  hither  from 
Roxbury  about  1758,  and  died  here  October  4,  1797,  aged 


64.  He  succeeded  Mr.  Dimmick  in  the  ownership  and 
occupancy  of  the  "Eoyce  Place,"  where  he  many  years 
kept  a  store,  such  as  small  country  towns  in  those  days 
afforded.  He  had  no  children.  He  was  an  active,  influ- 
ential man  ;  was  sent  Delegate  from  South  Brimfield 
to  the  Provincial  Congress  that  convened  in  Salem  Octo- 
ber 7,  1774  ;  and  twice  represented  the  town  in  the  State 
Legislature. 

Benjamin  "Winchester,  nephew  of  Captain  Daniel,  was 
once  a  prominent  inhabitant  of  this  place,  resided  here 
about  twenty-five  years,  then  connected  himself  with  the 
Societ}'  of  Shakers  of  Harvard,  Mass.,  and  removed  thither 
with  his  family  in  1815. 

Numerous  Fisk  families  have  abode  in  this  town,  all 
from  one  progenitor,  Captain  Asa  Fisk,  senior,  who  was 
an  immigrant  from  Hampton,  Ct.,  in  1762.  His  first  lodg- 
ment here  was  upon  the  place  which  subsequently  became 
noted  as  the  "Wales  Tavern  Stand,"  where  for  a  time  he 
pursued  the  vocations  of  inn-holder  and  farmer.  After 
that  he  purchased  a  large  tract  upon  the  elevated  ground 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  which  has  not  inappropri- 
ately been  called  "Fisk  Hill,"  and  there  made  his  after- 
life home  upon  the  premises  now  being  the  homestead  of 
Mr.  Moses  Davis.  He  was  a  man  of  much  energy  and 
decision  of  character,  and  in  midlife  exerted  a  largely 
controlling  influence  in  the  afiairs  of  the  town.  He  had 
eleven  children,  most  of  whom  became  heads  of  families 
here,  and  some  of  whom,  particularly  his  sons.  Captain 
Hezekiah  and  Captain  Asa,  became  distinguished  among 
the  town's  inhabitants.  He  died  February  8,  1812  ;  no 
record  gives  his  age. 

Few  have  been  the  Andrews  families  of  our  town,  but 
we  give  them  a  brief  notice.  Robert  Andrews,  the  first 
of  the  name  here,  as  conclusively  proved  by  the  old  town 
records,  came  hither  from  Coventry,  Ct.,  in  1761.  He 
was  domiciled  on  the  "Farrington  Place,"  contiguous  to 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  pond.    In  1789  he  emigra- 


23 

ted  hence  to  the  State  of  ISTew  York ;  and  ahout  the  same 
time  all  his  sons  and  their  families,  excepting  his  son 
Robert,  removed  from  this  place.  Robert  Andrews, 
junior,  continued  through  life  here,  and  died  February  14, 
1838,  aged  79.  He  married  Eunice,  daughter  of  Nehe- 
miah  ]^eedham,  and  made  his  residence  in  the  central 
part  of  the  south  border  of  the  town,  upon  a  naturally- 
uneven,  rough,  rocky  farm,  which,  by  judicious  calcula- 
tions, unwearied  and  laborious  industry,  he  made  very 
fertile  and  productive.  This  farm,  at  his  decease,  became 
the  homestead  of  his  son  Alvin,  who  died  thereon,  April 
4,  1862,  aged  73,  deeply  lamented  in  his  death,  as  he  had 
been  greatly  honored  and  respected  in  life  for  his  many 
virtues. 

The  Wales  families  here  seem  next  to  command  atten- 
tion. Oliver  "Wales,  senior,  came  to  this  town  from  Union, 
Ct,  in  1766,  and  here  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Dr. 
James  Lawrence  ;  staid  here  till  1778,  when  he  swapped 
farms  with  his  brother  Elijah  Wales,  and  returned  to 
Union,  and  Elijah  came  hither.  In  1787  these  brothers 
again  traded  farms  and  exchanged  residences,  after  which 
Oliver  continued  and  died  here  March  23,  1816,  at  the 
age  of  72.  JHis  residence  here  was  upon  the  premises 
repeatedly  hereinbefore  mentioned  as  the  'i- Wales  Tavern 
Stand,"  whereupon  he  abode  and  followed  the  double 
vocation  of  farmer  and  inn-holder  to  the  day  of  his 
demise.  He  was  twice  married  and  reared  ten  children 
to  adult  life.  He  was  twice,  1800,  1801,  chosen  to  repre-r 
sent  his  town  in  the  State  Legislature. 

James  Lawrence  Wales,  Esq.,  first  son  of  Oliver,  has 
already  been  honorably  named  as  the  donor  of  a  liberal 
bequest  to  the  town  which  bears  his  name.  His  many 
virtues,  aside  from  the  matter  of  his  legacy,  will  long  hold 
him  in  the  honoring  recollections  of  his  townsmen.  He 
died  July  3,  1840,  aged  70,  leaving  no  posterity. 

Our  late  highly  esteemed  townsman,  Royal  Wales,  Esq., 
was  the  second  son  of  Oliver.     Several  of  his  first  adult 


24 

years  lie  abode  here,  then  dwelt  several  years  in  Coventry, 
Ct.,  next  lived  some  years  in  Erimfield,  whence  he  returned 
hither  in  1838,  and  died  here  August  30,  1857,  aged  84. 
In  his  will  he  left  a  legacy  of  $500  to  the  Baptist  Society 
of  this  place.  He  was  thrice  chosen  representative  from 
this  town  to  the  Legislature,  that  was  in  1810 — 11 — 13. 

Captain  OHver  "Wales,  third  son  of  Oliver,  senior,  was 
an  honored  resident  here  till  his  removal  hence  to  the 
"West  in  1838.  He  died  in  Indiana,  September  26,  1855, 
at  the  age  of  76  years. 

Rev.  James  Mellen",  second  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church 
of  this  town,  came  hither  from  Framingham  in  1765,  and 
officiated  in  his  pastoral  and  ministerial  duties  till  1769, 
when  his  health  failing,  he  left  the  place  for  the  seashore, 
hoping  for  a  recuperation,  or,  at  least,  a  check  of  the 
wasting  malady  then  preying  upon  his  vitals.  But  he 
survived  his  departure  from  here  but  a  few  weeks,  and 
died  very  suddenly  while  on  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  Dover 
in  this  State,  aged  37.  He  had  one  son  born  here,  an 
account  of  whose  death  and  longevity  has  already  been 
given. 

Rev.  Elijah  Coddington,  fourth  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  here,  now  claims  our  special  consideration,  because 
of  his  extraordinarily  long  term  of  pastoral  service,  and 
the  strongly  inwoven  connection  of  his  biography  with 
the  town's  history.  He  came  to  this  town  from  Middle- 
borough  in  1773,  and  continued  and  died  here.  May  7, 
1830,  at  the  ripe  age  of  88  years.  He  was  married  in 
"Wrentham,  November  4,  1773,  to  Miss  Sarah  Heaton ; 
just  one  Aveek  after,  November  11,  he  was  ordained  and 
installed  pastor  of  the  church  here ;  and  on  the  8th  of 
December  following  he  removed  hither  his  wife  and  effects. 
He  filled  the  pastorate  here  fifty-three  years ;  served  as 
Town  Clerk  two  years  ;  as  Chaplain  of  a  regiment  of  our 
State  militia  ten  years ;  and,  as  shown  by  his  own  private 
record,  officiated  at  three  hundred  and  fifteen  marriages. 
He  was  not,  certainly  not  in  his  latter  years,  overborne 


25 

with  bigotry;  was  possessed  of  rather  liberal  Christian 
sentiments  and  feelings ;  was  bland  and  affable  in  social 
circles,  and  everybody  liked  him.  For  his  ministerial 
services  he  was  compensated  by  and  in  the  way  of  volun- 
tary contributions,  made  up  of  such  donations  and  pres- 
ents as  the  people  saw  fit  to  bestow.  Anything  of  value, 
provisions  for  support  of  himself  and  family,  labor  upon 
his  land,  or  aught  beside,  were  always  and  very  thankfully 
accepted.  His  practice  was  to  keep  an  exact  account  of 
all  his  donations  and  presents,  with  the  estimated  value 
of  the  same,  and  at  the  close  of  each  year  read  from  his 
pulpit  a  synopsis  of  his  account,  so  that  all  might  know 
how  much  he  received,  and  from  whom  the  same  was 
received.  Everybody  in  town  almost  felt  it  a  bounden 
duty  to  contribute  to  him  something  reasonable,  annually. 
He  had  two  children,  daughters,  one  of  whom  was  the 
first  consort  of  Royal  Wales,  Esq.,  the  other  the  wife  of 
our  late  respected  townsman,  Mr.  James  Babcock.  His 
old  gambrel-roofed  dwelling  still  may  be  seen  upon  the 
high  ground  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  main  street 
in  the  central  village  of  our  town.  There  may  it  long 
stand  monumentally  of  its  former  reverend  and  venerable 
occupant. 

The  HouGHTOXs,  though  few,  claim  our  consideration. 
The  first  of  these  was  Asa  Houghton,  senior,  who  came 
to  this  town  from  Union,  Ct.,  in  1779.  His  homestead 
was  what  we  have  called  the  "Houghton  Place,"  then 
aforetime  having  been  the  place  of  residence  of  his  father- 
in-law.  Captain  Trustrura  Davis.  Upon  this  farm  he 
lived,  died,  April  17,  1829,  aged  87,  and  his  remains  were 
interred  agreeably  to  his  own  wishes.  He  was  one  of  the 
sound,  substantial  yeomanry  of  the  town,  and  much 
respected.  He  was  the  third  representative  from  here  in 
the  Legislature  of  the  State,  1784.  He  Avas  followed  in  the 
ownership  and  occupancy  of  the  old  homestead  by  his  son, 
Captain  Asa  Houghton,  who,  like  his  father,  abode,  died, 
April  2,  1855,  aged  61,  and  was  buried  thereon. 
4 


26 

Numerically  large  have  been  the  "Walker  families  of 
this  town,  and  they  nearly  all  sprung  from  Benjamin 
"Walker,  who  came  here  from  Bridgewater  in  1777,  and 
purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  the  south-west  quarter  of  the 
town,  whereon  he  seated  some  of  his  sons,  and  at  a  later 
day,  himself;  for  he  was  a  ship-carpenter  by  trade  and 
remained  away,  laboring  at  that  employment  till  1788,  at 
which  date  he  fixed  his  home  here,  continuing  and  dying 
here  in  1816.  His  descendants  that  have  dwelt  here  have 
nearly  all  and  always  resided  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
his  location.  All  his  sons,  James,  Marshal,  Joseph,  Ben-' 
jamin,  and  Linus,  resided  here  more  or  less  with  their 
families,  some  of  which  were  quite  large. 

The  Walbridge  families  here  have  not  been  many,  nor 
very  much  distinguished.  W^illiam  "Walbridge  was  pro- 
genitor of  all  the  others  of  the  name  here  living.  Time  of 
his  first  coming  is  not  ascertained.  Esther  Shaw,  said  to 
have  been  a  niece  of  Seth  Shaw,  made  his  first  companion. 
They  had  several  children  —  quarreled  —  separated — he 
went  to  Stafford  and  there  staid  some  years — there  he  and 
his  wife  are  said  to  have  been  divorced — after  that  he  re- 
turned hither  with  another  wife  and  famil}?'  of  children, 
remained  and  died  here  in  ^lay,  1807,  aged  76.  His  sec- 
ond wife  was  Bebecca  Moulton,  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Moulton,  whose  settlement  here  has  been  briefly  noticed. 
He  abode  and  died  upon  what  herein-before  designated 
as  the  *' Walbridge  Place,"  in  tbe  .south-west  part  of  the 
town. 

Ames  "Walbridge,  son  of  "William  by  his  second  wife, 
succeeded  his  father  as  owner  and  occupant  of  the  pater- 
nal homestead,  whereon  he  died,  July  27,  1851,  aged  69.. 
In  midlife  he  was  reckoned  among  the  most  prorain.enj; 
.and  substantial  of  our  town'.s  forming  population. 

T.he  PEBRy  families  here  have  always  resided  in  the  ex.- 
treme  south-east  part  of  the  town.  Manasseh  Perry  came 
here  from  Douglas  about  1770,  and  settled  within  a  fur- 
long's length  o.f  the  south-east  corner  of  the  town,  where 


2f 

he  remaiiiGcl  through  his  residue  of  life.  His  sons,  Ab- 
iier,  Josiah,  Isaac,  and  Micah,  all  married  and  abode  here 
with  their  families  for  a  while,  but  subsequently  scattered 
off  excepting  Abner,  who  dwelt  upon  the  premises  now 
making  the  homestead  of  Mr.  Oliver  A.  Perry,  and  who 
died  here  December  11,  1820,  aged  60.  He  was  the  father 
of  our  late  respectable  townsman,  Mr.  Silas  Perry. 

Captain  Joseph  Perry,  between  whom  and  Manasseh 
no  ties  of  consanguinity  were  recognized,  came  hither 
from  Sturbridge  in  1795,  staid  here  till  1802,  then  emi- 
grated to  the  then  District,  now  State  of  Maine.  His  son, 
our  late  very  wortliy  townsman,  Mr.  John  Perry,  remained 
here  upon  the  premises  now  being  the  homestead  of  his 
son,  Mr.  Samuel  B.  Perry,  and  died  here  at  the  age  of  64, 
September  8,  1844. 

The  Tiffany  families  next  command  attention.  J'ames 
Tiffany,  senior,  came  to  this  place  from  Douglas  in  or 
about  1780,  continued  here  till  1795,  then  left.  James 
Tiffany,  junior,  son  of  the  first  James,  came  here  with  his 
father,  was  here  married  in  1781,  to  Mary  Howe,  suc- 
ceeded Captain  AVinchester  as  owner  and  occupant  of  the 
"Royce  Place,"  and  also  in  merchandising  or  store-keep- 
ing upon  a  small  scale  thereon,  and  died  here  March  25, 
1823,  aged  62.  His  sons.  Dexter,  Lj-man,  Bela  and  Lor- 
ing,  all  became  noted  here  and  elsewhere  in  the  world  of 
business  and  trade,  manufacturing,  merchandising,  and 
otherwise. 

Bela  Tiffany,  Esq.,  son  of  James,  junior,  was  here  in 
childhood  and  youth,  and  till  1808;  was  then  off  else- 
where in  business  till  1825,  at  which  time  be  returned 
hither  with  his  family,  and  here  tarried  till  1830,  when  he 
left  again.  He  died  in  August,  1851,  aged  66 — his  death 
being  the  result  of  an  injury  in  being  thrown  from  his 
wasron  as  he  was  returninsr  from  Palmer  to  his  home  in 
Southbridge.  Though  he  ^yas  not  faultless  more  than 
others,  yet,  as  the  originator  of  the  first  manufacturing 
establishment  in  this  town,  he  is  entitled  to  the  honored 


28 

and  grateful  remembrance  of  all  desirers  of  our  town's 
prosperit3^  We  have  now  no  right  to  say  there  would  be 
at  this  time  any  cloth  manufactories  in  this  town,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  start  and  impetus  given  by  him  to  that 
branch  of  industry;  and  he  must  be  a  dolt  indeed  who 
does  not  understand  in  some  good  degree  the  benefits  by 
our  town  derived  from  the  manufacturing  business  done 
in  this  place. 

The  first  of  the  Stewarts,  that  was  James  Stewart, 
came  hither  in  1780  from  Xew  Braiutree.  He  remained 
and  died  here.  Among  his  descendants  are  to  be  num-- 
bered  some  very  good  men  that  were  counted  with  our 
town's  inhabitants  in  days  past.  Of  these  may  be  named 
his  son,  Mr.  Paul  Stewart,  who  died  February  22,  1851, 
aged  87,  and  his  grandson,  Captain  Joseph  Stewart,  who 
died  May  2,  1857,  aged  69,  both  of  whom  were  highly  es- 
teemed by  their  neighbors  and  townsmen,  for  their  moral 
rectitude  and  excellence  of  character. 

The  "Wights  bear  not  a  name  known  here  at  a  very 
early  day.  The  first  here  was  Mr.  Daniel  Wight,  who 
came  in  1791,  from  Wrentham,  and  who  continued  and 
died  here,  January  20,  1800,  aged  46.  He  run  a  grist- 
mill here  which  stood  upon  the  south  side  of  the  highway, 
and  nearly  opposite  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Warren 
Shaw.  Captain  iS'athan  Wight,  a  distant  relative  of  Dan- 
iel, came  hither  from  Bellingham  in  1797  ;  staid  here  till 
1820,  then  removed  to  Attica  in  Western  !N'ew  York,  where 
he  died  in  1832,  aged  75.  His  employment  when  here 
was  in  the  agricultural  line,  in  the  cultivation  and  man- 
agement of  his  farm  situated  a  mile  and  more  west  of  the 
central  village  of  our  town.  During  a  term  of  some  years 
of  his  stay  here  he  exerted  much  of  a  controlling  influence 
in  the  aflairs  of  the  town;  but  this  influence  was  nearly, 
if  not  entirely,  lost  before  he  left  the  place.  From  him 
descends  the  ancestral  line  of  all  bearing  the  Wight  name 
who  have  been  dwellers  in  this  town  for  the  last  fifty  years. 

The  Smiths,  Thompsons  and  Boyces,  all  of  whom  lat- 


29 

terly  have  been  pretty  numerous  here,  are  modern  comers, 
and  of  whom,  for  thcc  reason,  but  few  words  will  be  said. 
Of  most  of  the  Smiths  that  have  been  or  are  here,  the 
progenitor  was  our  former  respected  townsman,  Mr.  James 
Smith,  who  came  hither  in  1800  from  Brookfield,  and 
died  here  September  3,  1834,  aged  84. — Of  most  of  the 
Thomi^sons  resident  here,  the  lineage  goes  back  to  our 
former  esteemed  inhabitant,  Mr.  Abner  Thompson,  who 
came  to  this  place  from  Smithfield,  Rhode  Island,  in  1807, 
and  died  here  March  7,  1839,  aged  78. — The  Royccs  here 
all  came  from  our  late  respectable  townsman,  Mr.  Joseph 
C.  Royce,  who  came  hither  in  1815  from  Mansfield,  Ct., 
and  here  died  December  1,  1845,  at  the  age  of  77  years. 

OTHER  SUBJECTS. 
Having  already  in  our  biographical  sketches  exceeded 
what  may  perhaps  be  deemed  our  reasonable  limits,  we 
will  here  break  off  that  subject,  and  briefly  notice  some 
other  matters  appertaining  to  our  town's  history. 

PRACTICIN^G  PHYSICIA:N'S. 
First  we  will  give  a  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  duly 
constituted  members  of  the  Medical  Fraternity  that  have 
ever  been  located  in  this  town  in  the  practice  of  their  pro- 
fessional vocation,  with  the  times  of  their  being  here 
superadded,  which  list  is  as  follows : 

1.  Dr.  James  Lawrence,  here  from  1746  to  1778,    32  years. 


2. 

Dr.  Dudley  Wnde, 

(C 

1779  « 

1783, 

4 

3. 

Dr.  Abel  Sherman, 

(( 

1783  « 

1786, 

3 

4. 

Dr.  Jeremiah  Round, 

« 

1787  « 

1789, 

2 

5. 

Dr.  David  Young, 

» 

1790  " 

1802, 

12 

6. 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Lethbridge 

> 

1805  " 

1811, 

6 

7. 

Dr.  Thadeus  Fairbanks, 

(( 

1811  « 

1815, 

4 

8. 

Dr.  Daniel  Tiffany, 

(i 

1812  « 

1822, 

10 

9. 

Dr.  Aaron  Shaw, 

« 

1813  " 

1845, 

32 

10. 

Dr.  John  Smith, 

(( 

1815  " 

1866, 

51 

11. 

Dr.  Cornelius  M.  Stewart, 

<( 

1846  " 

1848, 

2 

30 

A  brief  meirioranduni,  biograpbically  given  of  each  of 
the  individuals  named  in  the  foregoing  catalogue,  would 
not  be  out  of  place  here;  but  neither  our  limits  nor  our 
information  in  regard  to  some  of  the  men  will  allow  this 
to  be  done  fully ;  3'et  a  few  historic  facts  shall  be  given  of 
some  of  them. 

Dr.  James  Lawrence  came  to  this  place  from  Killingly, 
Ct.,  in  or  about  1746,  but  before  making  a  stand  any- 
where, he  went  to  the  now  central  part  of  Brimfield,  and 
made  a  survey  of  the  situation  and  prospective  condition 
of  matters  there,  and  considered  these  in  comparison  with 
the  same  in  this  place,  and  finally  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  was  a  "smarter  place"  than  that,  and  conse- 
quently determined  to,  and  did,  here  establish  himself  in 
his  professional  vocation,  continuing  here  to  the  time  of 
his  demise,  which  was  caused  by  small  pox.  May  14, 17T8, 
at  the  age  of  58  years.  In  his  day  and  generation,  he 
seems  to  have  been  a  very  prominent  and  highly  respect- 
able inhabitant  of  the  place. 

Dr.  David  Young  came  here  from  "Worcester  in  1790, 
and  here  located  as  a  practicing  physician.  He  afterwards 
opened  a  store  and  followed  the  business  of  a  merchant. 
In  progress  of  his  vocations  he  became  pecuniarily  em- 
barrassed, which  led  him,  in  connection  with  Aaron  Win- 
chester as  an  accomplice,  to  concoct  a  scheme  of  gross 
fraud  and  cheating,  whereby  to  save  his  estate  from  his 
honest  creditors,  and  for  his  own  benefit.  But  this  plot 
was  blasted  in  its  inceptive  stage,  or  thwarted  in  its  de- 
velopment, and  the  two  conspirators  in  the  fraud  drew 
down  upon  their  heads  a  storm  of  just  indignation  from 
their  townsmen  here;  and  a  part  of  the  sequel  was,  that 
Dr.  Young  hastily  removed  to  Brimfield,  declaring  that  he 
would  never  more  live  in  this  town.  He  died  in  Brim- 
field a  few  months  after  going  thither,  but  his  remains 
were  brought  here  for  interment  by  the  side  of  his  first 
consort,  who  was  the  daughter  and  only  child  of  Darius 
Hunger,  Esq.    Undoubtedly  both  he  and  Winchester, 


31 

from  that  transaction,  learned  that  there  was  wisdom  in 
the  old  commandatory  adage — "Let  mischief  alone  be- 
fore it  is  meddled  with." 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Lethbridge  came  to  this  town  in  1805 
from  Medway,  and  continued  here  to  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease in  1811.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Medway  for 
burial.     He  was  a  bachelor. 

Dr.  Daniel  Tiffany  was  not  of  the  family,  but  a  relative 
of  the  other  Tiffanysthat  have  been  hereiu-before  named; 
had  his  residence  here  two  years,  1792-3,  then  left;  re- 
turned in  1812,  claiming  to  be  of  the  medical  brotherhood, 
continued  here  till  1822,  then  removed  to  "Webster.  When 
here  he  abode  in  different  localities,  but  mostly  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  and  when  not  professionally  en^ 
gaged  gave  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was 
not  regarded  as  superlatively  smart  or  skillful,  and  did 
not  have  an  extensive  practice. 

Dr.  Aaron  Shaw  first  studied  with  Dr.  Lethbridge;  af- 
ter that  studied  and  practiced  some  elsewhere;  then,  1813, 
established  himself  in  the  vocation  of  his  profession  in 
this  town,  in  which  he  continued  with  fair  success  to  the 
time  of  his  decease,  July  17,  1845,  at  the  age  of  62  years. 
He  was  son  of  Samuel,  and  grandson  of  John  Shaw,  sen- 
ior, of  whose  settlement  here  an  account  has  before  been 
given. 

Dr.  John  Smith,  though  now  living  here  at  the  age  of 
80  years,  but  not  in  much  professional  service,  shall  not 
for  that  or  any  cause  be  passed  by  without  a  succinct  but 
respectful  notice.  He  is  son  of  James  Smith  whose  com- 
ins:  and  residence  here  have  been  before  herein  considered. 
He  commenced  his  professional  labors  in  Maine,  but  came 
hither  in  1815,  and  has  been  since  then  to  this  time,  Jan- 
uary 1,  1866,  a  resident  and  medical  practitioner  in  this 
town.  His  practice  has  been  pretty  extensive  for  a  small 
place  like  this,  and  it  is  believed  that  most  of  our  people 
have  been  quite  well  satisfied  with  his  service_s. 


32 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY. 

THE  BAPTISTS. 
We  have  no  historic  or  traditional  account  of  any  move- 
ment here,  by  way  of  an  association  for  religious  purposes, 
earlier  than  the  organization  of  the  Baptist  Church  here, 
October  4,  1736.  This  church,  at  the  start,  consisted  of 
twenty-six  members.  The  first  deacons  were  Joseph  Ilovey 
and  Benjamin  Johnson.  During  several  years  after  their 
first  pastor,  Mr.  Moulton,  left  them,  in  1763,  the  church 
bad  many  troubles,  the  members  were  divided  in  feeling 
if  not  in  sentiment,  some  seceded,  or  perhaps  had  done 
so  at  a  day  earlier  than  that  here  indicated,  and  the  church, 
for  a  time,  became  almost  extinct.  A  reorganization  of 
the  church  was  efiected  in  1771,  under  the  influence  and 
labors  of  Mr.  Ewing,  their  third  pastor,  after  which  they 
had  more  of  peace  and  prosperity.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  pastors  of  this  church  to  the  present  time : 

1.  Rev.  Ebenezer  Moulton,  from 

2.  Rev.  James  Mellen,  "  , 

3.  Rev.  William  Ewing,  *' 
'       4.  Rev.  Elijah  Coddington,       « 

5.  Rev.  Joshua  Eveleth,  " 

6.  Rev.  John  M.  Hunt,  " 

7.  Rev.  Tubal  Wakefield,  « 

8.  Rev.  George  Mixter,  " 

9.  Rev.  Warren  Cooper,  " 

10.  Rev.  Volney  Church,  " 

11.  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Allard,  " 

12.  Rev.  Henry  H.  Hazleton,  " 

13.  Rev.  Sylvester  Barrows,  " 

14.  Rev.  Asa  A.  Robinson,  " 
■     15.  Eev.  William  S.  Phillips,  " 

16.  Rev.  Moses  Curtis,  '• 

The  seventeenth  and  present  pastor  of  the  church  is 
Rev.  Justus  Aldrich,  who  commenced  his  services  in 
August,  1862.     The  present  number  of  members  of  the 


1741 

to 

1763, 

22  years 

17G5 

a 

1769, 

4 

1770 

(( 

1772, 

2 

1773 

a 

1826, 

53 

1826 

li 

1829, 

3 

1829 

a 

1830, 

1 

1834 

a 

1836, 

2 

1836 

a 

18-12, 

6 

1842 

n 

1843, 

1 

1843 

a 

1848, 

5 

1848 

u 

1850, 

2 

1850 

u 

1851, 

1 

1851 

u 

1852, 

1 

1852 

a 

1856, 

4 

1856 

a 

1860, 

H 

1861 

11 

1862, 

li 

33 

church  is  one  hnndrecl  and  fourteen,  as  shown  by  the  offi- 
cial report  made  to  the  Sturbridge  Association,  to  which 
it  belongs,  at  its  last  session.  These  then  are  all  the  fticts 
had  in  contemplation  to  be  given  concerning  this  church, 
excepting  such  as  are  inwoven  in  the  biographical  sketches 
before  given  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Moulton,  Mellen  and  Cod- 
dington,  and  also  such  as  may  come  in  what  shall  be  said 
upon  the  subject  of  meeting-houses  soon  to  be  considered. 

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Though  it  is  not  now  possible  to  brush  away  all  the  cob- 
webs of  uncertainty  that  hang  around  the  earl}"  ecclesias- 
tical history  of  this  town,  yet  it  is  not  too  much,  nor  un- 
reasonable to  believe  that,  from  our  earliest  history,  there 
have  existed  here  those  who  have  held  the  sentiments, 
and  considered  themselves  of  the  denomination  usually  in. 
latter  times  styled  "  Orthodox  Congregationalists."  In- 
deed, it  is  a  well  ascertained  fact  that  in  the  middle  and 
latter  part  of  the  last  century,  a  portion  of  the  people 
here  were  of  that  order,  and  were  connected  with  a  church 
of  their  order  then  existing  in  the  East  Parish  of  the  tliea 
town  or  district  of  South  Brimfield,  now  Holland.  But 
we  have  no  data  for  determining  the  numbers  or  strength 
of  this  denomination  here  till  about  the  close  of  the  last, 
and  commencement  of  the  present  century,  when  the 
Union  Meeting-house  was  here  built.  Kor  do  we  now 
know  of  the  existence  of  any  proof  that  this  sect  ever 
here  had  any  organized  religious  associational  connection 
prior  to  1819,  at  which  time  they  here  organized  a  church 
of  twelve  members.  This  church  never  grew  much,  but 
lingered  out  a  fragile  existence  of  a  few  years,  and  then 
became  extinct.  This  denomination  never  here  had  con- 
stant or  regular  preaching,  but  only  that,  and  but  little  of 
that,  which  was  occasional. 

UNIVERSALISTS. 
In  the  latter  years  of  the  last  century,  say  from  and 
after  1780,  a  goodly  number  of  the  people  of  this  town 
5 


34 

became  believers  in  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Restoration. 
Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  once  a  Baptist,  afterwards  a 
distinguished  Restorationist  divine,  was  occasionally  here. 
He  was  a  son  of  Deacon  Elhanan  Winchester  who  lived 
here  a  short  term ;  and  he  also  had  three  brothers  and 
one  sister  then  residing  here  ;  besides,  Captain  Daniel 
Winchester,  long  a  prominent  aiid  honored  citizen  here, 
was  his  uncle,  consequently  it  seems  reasonable  to  con- 
clude that  he  was  first  attracted  hither  to  make  visits  to 
his  relatives  ;  and  as  his  custom  was,  when  visiting  here, 
he  here  preached  more  or  less.  His  writings  also,  which 
were  somewhat  voluminous  and  interesting,  were  here- 
about quite  extensively  circulated  and  read.  Under  the 
influence  of  his  preaching  and  writings,  his  doctrine  was 
here  planted,  and  here  grew  and  spread  considerably.  At 
two  or  three  diftercnt  times  heretofore,  the  Universalists, 
or,  as  they  were  formerly  called  here,  Restorationists,  have 
had  societies  here  organized,  each  of  which  endured  for  a 
few  years,  and  then  expired.  They  never  had  anything 
more  than  occasional  preaching  here,  and  not  very  much 
of  that. 

The  relative  strength  of  the  three  denominations  that 
have  been  mentioned,  at  the  commencement  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  may  be  judged  of  with  some  approximation 
to  accuracy  by  the  shares  each  took  in  the  Union  Meeting- 
house by  them  then  here  built,  whereof  we  shall  very  soon 
speak.  There  is  now  in  this  town  no  society  or  other 
organization  of  those  holding  the  sentiments  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  denomination. 

METHODISTS. 

The  primitive  establishment  of  a  Methodist  Society  and 
Church  here  occurred  in  1830.  The  Rev.  Horace  Moul- 
ton  was  the  first  preacher  of  the  order  that  ever  regularly 
officiated  in  this  town;  and  it  was  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  him,  by  his  labors  and  efibrts,  chiefly,  that 
such  organizations  were  effected.    He  was  a  son  of  our 


35 

former  highly  esteemed  townsman,  Mr.  Jesse  Moulton, 
and  a  great-grandson  of  Freeborn  Moulton,  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  our  town,  and  of  whom  a  concise  ac- 
count has  before  been  given. 

The  Methodist  Society  here  is  of  so  recent  origin,  and 
everything  of  its  history  is  so  generally  and  so  well  known 
in  our  community,  that  it  seems  a  Vv^ork  of  supererogation, 
if  not  inappropriate,  to  elaborate  any  detailed  statement  of 
matters  and  things  concerning  the  same.  We  will,  there- 
fore, only  add  to  what  has  thus  far  been  said  upon  the  sub- 
ject, a  catalogue  of  the  circuit  preachers  of  the  denomina- 
tion, that  have  hitherto  officiated  here,  in  connection  with 
the  dates  and  times  of  their  here  being.  The  list  is  as 
follows : 

1.  Rev.  Horace  Moulton,  here  from  1830   to   1832,  *  2  years. 


2. 

Rev.  Enoch  Bradley, 

li 

1832 

u 

1833, 

1 

3. 

Rev.  Amasa  Taylor, 

a 

1833 

(( 

1835, 

2 

4. 

Rev.  Horace  Moulton, 

K 

1835 

a 

1836, 

1 

5. 

Rev.  Otis  Wilder, 

a 

1836 

11 

1837, 

1 

G. 

Rev.  Joseph  Lewis, 

li 

1837 

(( 

1839, 

2 

7. 

Rev.  Charles  Virgin, 

n 

1839 

li 

1840, 

1 

8. 

Rev.  William  Gordon, 

i{. 

1840 

li 

1842, 

2 

9. 

Rev.  Thomas  W.  Gile, 

li 

1842 

11 

1843, 

1 

10. 

Rev.  Henry  S.  Shedd, 

li 

1843 

11 

1844, 

1 

11. 

Rev.  Rufus  P.  Buffington, 

> 

1844 

li 

1845, 

1 

12. 

Rev.  Spencer  Tileston, 

(( 

1845 

a 

1846, 

1 

13. 

Rev.  William  A.  Clapp, 

li 

184G 

(( 

1848, 

2 

14. 

Rev.  Jarvis  Wilson, 

a 

1848, 

li 

1849, 

1 

15. 

Rev.  John  Ricketts, 

li 

1849' 

li 

1851, 

2 

16. 

Rev.  Daniel  Atkins, 

li 

1851 

11 

1853, 

2 

17. 

Rev.  David  Culver, 

<( 

in 

1853, 

2 

18. 

Rev.  Andrew  Baylies, 

(( 

1857 

« 

1858, 

1 

19. 

Rev.  Silas  Piper, 

u 

1858 

ii 

1861, 

3 

20. 

Rev.  John  Goodwin, 

11 

1861 

<( 

1862, 

1 

21. 

Rev.  Moses  P.  Webster, 

(( 

1862 

li 

1864, 

2 

22. 

Rev.  John  Noon, 

li 

1864 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  remark,  that,  of  the  half  dozen 
first  named  preachers  in  the  foregoing  list,  no  one  but 


36 

Mr.  Moulton  preached  here  steadily.  Their  labors  were 
divided  between  the  societies  of  this  town  and  Monson,  a 
portion  of  their  time  being  given  to  each. 

MEETING-HOUSES. 

The  erection  and  maintenance  of  meeting-houses  claims 
attention,  as  a  branch  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the 
town.  And,  first,  we  will  speak  of  what  we  will  call  the 
Central  House,  or  the  house  that  was  intended  to  have 
been,  but  was  not.  During  the  four  or  five  years  next 
after  the  district  of  South  Brimfield  was  severed  from  the 
parent  town,  which  was  in  1762,  many  district  meetings 
were  held  to  devise  and  execute  means  and  measures  for 
building  a  meeting-house  for  the  use  of  the  whole  district, 
and  whiA  should  be  centrally  located,  so  as  best  to 
answer  the  purpose  intended.  And  indeed  that  project 
was  so  far  carried  into  execution,  that  the  frame  of  such 
house  was  reared  upon  the  west  side  of  the  old  road  that 
fringes  the  line  that  now  divides  this  town  and  Holland, 
and  about  midway  between  the  present  north-east  and 
south-east  corners  of  this  town.  But  the  self-evident  fact 
quickly  burst  upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  yet  not 
so  quickly  as  seemingly  it  might  have  done,  that  a  house 
there,  in  lieu  of  accommodating  both  sections  of  the  dis- 
trict, in  reality  would  accommodate  neither.  Hence  the 
work  was  abruptly  abandoned,  and  the  frame  that  had 
been  erected  was  never  there  inclosed,  but  was  taken  down, 
sold,  and  removed  to  Willington,  Ct.,  and  there  appropri- 
ated to  its  originally  intended  use.  This  house  was 
designed,  as  is  understood,  to  have  been  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  "  Standing  Order,"  as  the  Coiigregationalists 
then  were  called,  of  which  there  were  many  in  the  "East 
Part,"  and  some  in  the  "West  Part"  of  the  district. 

The  first  Baptist  House,  and  in  fact  the  first  of  any  order 
in  this  town  erected,  seems  to  have  been  built  somewhere 
about  1760 — for  no  records  can  be  found,  nor  other  evi- 
dence written  or  oral,  fixing  the  exact  time.    That  house 


37 

stood  very  near  the  odgbt  of  the  present  Baptist  House. 
The  occupancy  of  that  house  by  the  Baptists  was  continued 
till  1802,  when  its  proprietors  sold  it  to  the  town,  and  in 
October,  1803,  by  direction  of  the  town,  it  was  sub-divided 
into  fourteen  separate  lots  or  parcels,  all  of  which  were 
sold  at  vendue  for  the  gross  sum  of  $105.80,  after  which 
each  vendee  took,  removed,  and  disposed  of,  his  pur- 
chased parcel  of  the  old  house. 

While  the  last  mentioned  house  was  being  disposed  of 
and  removed  as  aforesaid,  a  new  one  was  in  process  of 
conslfruction,  close  by  the  side  of  the  old  one.  This  we 
shall  denominate  the  Union  House.  It  was  built  by  the 
town,  but  upon  an  arrangement  that  the  pews  should  be 
sold  at  public  auction,  and  the  proceeds  be  applied  in 
liquidation  of  the  cost  of  building,  the  town  reserving  the 
right  of  use  of  the  house  for  town  meetings  and  other 
municipal  purposes.  Another  condition  in  the  adjustment 
of  the  plan  upon  which  the  house  was  built,  was,  that  the 
Sabbath-day  use  of  it,  from  year  to  year,  should  be  appor- 
tioned among  the  several  different  Christian  denomina- 
tions that  should  purchase  or  hold  pews  therein,  each 
denomination  to  have  the  right  to  occupy  the  house  with 
preaching  of  its  own  order  a  number  of  Sabbaths  in  each 
year,  proportionate  to  the  value  in  pews  that  the  members 
of  each  might,  for  the  time  being,  possess  or  hold  in  the 
house,  with  this  proviso  superadded,  that  at  any  and  all 
times  when  neither  of  the  other  denominations  occupied 
the  house  upon  the  days  assigned  for  such  occupanc}^  the 
Baptists  might  rightfully  occupy  the  same.  The  first 
apportionment  among  the  denominational  pew-holders 
was  made  in  April,  1803,  at  which  time  the  house  was 
not  finished,  though  the  pews  were  previously  sold ;  and 
by  that  apportionment,  for  the  first  year's  use  of  the 
house,  thirty-two  Sabbaths  were  assigned  to  the  Baptists, 
twelve  to  the  Universalists,  and  eight  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalists.  This  Union  Ho.use,  in  1846,  in  accordance 
with  the_^ provisions  of  a  statute  of  our  Commonwealth, 


38 

•A'.-. 

was  appraised,  and  the  pews  of  tbe^ther  denominational 
owners  were  purchased  or  taken  at  their  appraised  values 
by  the  Baptists,  who  repaired,  remodeled,  and  put  the 
same  into  its  present  -form  and  condition,  whereby  it 
became  wholly,  and  to  this  time  so  continues,  a  Baptist 
House,  being  the  second  house  of  that  order  that  has 
existed  in  our  town. 

The  Methodist  House  in  this  place  was  erected  in  1832 
by  voluntary  contributions.  In  the  outset  it  was  very 
cheaply,  and  rather  roughly  done,  but  since  then  it  has 
been  made  the  subject  of  important  renovations  and  im- 
provements, all  of  which  matters  are  of  so  recent  date  as 
to  supersede  the  necessity  of  any  extended  remarks  upon 
the  subject  at  this  time. 

MANUFACTURES. 

BOOTS  AND   SHOES. 

No  great  amount  of  manufacturing  has  ever  been  done 
in  this  town,  excepting  the  manufacture  of  boots  and 
shoes  and  woolen  cloths,  and  excepting  also  such  manu- 
factures as  have  been  done  in  private  families  for  home 
consumption.  The  boot  and  shoe  manufacture  here  was 
never  very  extensive,  there  being  at  no  time  more  than  a 
half  dozen  small  shops,  in  each  of  which  were  employed 
from  three  or  four  to  eight  or  ten  hands,  and  a  little  work 
done  by  individuals  outside  the  shops.  At  no  time,  per- 
haps, has  more  of  this  work  been  done  in  town  than  was 
done  in  1836-7,  at  which  time,  within  the  space  of  a  year, 
the  amount  done,  as  ascertained  by  the  Assessors  of  the 
town,  in  compliance  with  a  statutory  requirement  for  ob- 
taining statistical  information  concerning  certain  branches 
of  industry,  was : — 

Boots  manufactured, 6,230  pairs. 

Shoes  "  9,053     « 

Total, 15,283     « 


39 

The  cash  value  of  these,  npoii  the  Assessor's  estimate, 
was  set  clown  in  the  gross  sum  of  $27,743.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  very  little  is  being  done  in  town  in  this  branch 
of  manufactures. 

MANUFACTURE  OF  WOOLEN  CLOTHS. 
In  1828-9  buildings  were  erected,  and  other  prepara- 
tions made  for  the  manufacture  of  this  description  of 
goods.  The  moving  spirits  in  this  enterprise  were  Bela 
Tiffany,  Esq.,  and  Captain  Oliver  Wales.  In  1830,  before 
any  work  of  manufacturing  was  done  in  the  then  newly 
erected  mill.  Tiffany  sold  out  his  estate  in  this  town,  and 
moved  away.  Soon  after  this,  work  was  commenced  and 
continued  to  a  small  extent,  by  Captain  Wales  and  others, 
till  1835,  when  Messrs.  R.  P.  Wales  and  J.  W.  Bliss  of 
Brimfield  bought  the  establishment,  enlarged  its  capacities 
by  putting  therein  more  machinery,  and  made  other  im- 
provements in  and  about  the  same,  and  run  it  till  Febru- 
ary, 1837,  when  the  mill  caught  fire  and  was  nearly  all 
destroyed  by  the  consuming  element,  except  the  stone 
walls.  After  this  occurrence,  nothing  was  done  with  the 
concern  till  1839,  when  John  W.  Bliss,  as  half  owner  of 
the  property,  with  Messrs.  James  L.  Wales  and  Royal 
Wales,  each  owning  a  moiety  of  the  other  half,  rebuilt 
the  mill,  and  restocked  it  with  machinery.  In  1840  James 
L.  Wales  died,  and  Leonard  B.  Wight,  as  legatee  of  the 
deceased  part-owner,  became  possessed  of  six  shares  of 
the  company's  stock,  and  in  February,  1841,  the  three 
chief  owners  of  the  concern  procured  an  act  of  incorpo- 
ration by  name  of  the  "Wales  Manufacturing  Company." 
And  again  in  1841  the  business  of  the  manufacture  of 
satinet  cloths  was  here  commenced,  and  has  been  steadily 
continued  to  the  present  day.  But  there  has  recently  been 
an  entire  change  in  the  ownership  of  the  establishment. 
In  the  autumn  of  1865,  the  old  comj^any  sold  the  prop- 
erty to  the  three  Rogers  brothers,  Joel  H.,  Lafayette, 
and  Clinton,  who  now  own  and  run  the  mill,  and  trans- 


40 

act  their  business  under  the  name  and  firm  of  "J.  H. 

EOGERS  &  Co." 

Under  "An  Act  to  obtain  the  Industrial  Statistics  of 
the  Commonwealth,"  of  1865,  the  Selectmen  of  the  town 
officially  ascertained  and  reported  the  amount  aiid  value 
of  business  done  at  this  manufactory,  in  the  year  next  pre- 
ceding May  1,  1865,  to  have  been  as  follows: — 


Pounds  of  scoured  wool  used, 

50,000 

Gross  value  of  stock  used, 

.    $77,000 

Yards  of  satinet  cloth  made,   . 

115,756 

Value  of  the  cloths  made. 

.  $115,756 

Number  of  hands  employed:  Males,   . 

17 

Females, 

14 

Capital  invested, 

$14,240 

In  1847  another  manufacturing  establishment' for  satinet 
goods  was  started  in  this  town.  The  building  first  erected 
was  small,  sufficient  only  to  receive  one  set  of  machines, 
which  were  put  into  it  in  1848,  and  the  work  of  manufac- 
turing therein  commenced.  The  stockholders,  at  the 
start,  w^ere  Esek  Luther,  Warren  Shaw,  Elijah  Shaw, 
Eden  D.  Shaw,  Dwight  W.  Ellis,  Alvin  Andrews,  and  a 
Mr.  Woods  of  Stafford,  Ct.  Number  of  shares,  18.  Capi- 
tal invested,  $9,000.  This  company  was  incorporated 
April  17,  1848,  by  name  of  the  "Shaw  Manufacturing 
Company."  In  1851  this  company  enlarged  their  mill  by 
an  addition  thereto  large  enough  to  capacitate  it  to  receive 
a  second  set  of  machines,  which  were  immediately  put 
therein.  In  1856  the  then  existing  company  made  a  still 
further  enlargement  of  their  mill,  making  it  sufficiently 
capacious  to  hold  a  third  set  of  machines,  which  were 
Boon  therein  set  up.  About  1860  the  owners  changed  or 
altered  their  machinery  so  as  to  fit  it  for  the  manufacture 
of  a  sort  of  goods  called  "doeskins,"  in  place  of  satinets, 
which  since  then  they  have  continued  to  make.  The 
Selectmen's  ascertainment  and  report  of  the  amount  and 
value  of  business  done  in  this  mill,  within  the  year  named 


41 

in  reference  to  the  work  done  in  the/imill  first.memtiQPied, 
are  to  the  followiug  purport: —  ,M-.....i   ,  .,.i..,,.i  .iiiii 


Pounds  of  scoured  wool  used, 
Gross  value  of  stock  used,    . 
Yards  of  doeskins  made, 
Yalue  of  the  cloths  made, 
Number  of  hands  employed  :  Males, 

Females, 
Capital  invested, 


■•'"•82,06b'  *"'' 
^141,480 '■'•''"•' 

-  139;800-  ii"--' 
$209,,7iOO.    tl 

,     M27,l..;.lr; 

1.2.5..,,  o.h 
$18,00P,.   ,,   I,. 


In  1860-61  Messrs,  Elijah  and  Aaron  Shaw  erected  and 
put  in  operation  another  small  establishment  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  woolen  goods.  This  mill  was  made,  and  still 
is,  only  of  sufficient  capacity  to  accommodate  a  single  set 
of  machines.  These  were  put  into  it,  and  the  work  of 
cloth-making  therein  commenced  in  1862.  The  article 
made  is  doeskins.  Elijah  Shaw  is  now  sole  owner  of  the 
concern.  At  this  mill,  the  amount  and  value  of  the  work 
done  during  the  year  named  in  reference  to  the  other 
mills,  and  ascertained  in  manner  as  in  the  other  cases,  was 
the  following: — 

Pounds  of  scoured  wool  used,  ....     33,000 
Gross  value  of  stock  used,        ....  $57,000 

Yards  of  doeskins  made, 52,750 

Value  of  cloths  made, $79,125 

Number  of  hands  employed :  Males,     .       .  11 

Females,        .  9 

Capital  invested, $9,000 

This  establishment  is  designated  by  name  of  the  "Dell 
Mill." 

About  two  years  since,  Messrs.  Eden  J),  and  Aaron 
Shaw  commenced  to  build  a  fourth  mill  in  town,  and  they 
have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  get  up  the  main  buildings, 
large  enough  to  contain  four  sets  of  machines,  and  to  get 
in  one  set  now,  January  1,  1866,  just  about  being  put  in 
operation.  This  is  also  designed  for  the  doeskin  manu- 
facture. 

6 


42 

In  August,  1865,  Mr.  Elijah  SJiaw  started  to  build  a 
fifth  factory  here  iu  our  town,  and  he  has  already  got  up 
the  walls,  constructed  of  brick  and  stone,  of  the  principal 
building,  and  when  completed  it  will  apparently  be  the 
largest  and  best  mill  in  town. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  say,  that  the  stream  upon 
which  our  mills  are  built  is  so  small  as  to  render  necessary 
the  use  of  steam,  as  a  propelling  force,  in  the  drier  parts 
of  every  season.  , 


HOLL   OF  HONOB: 

Being  a  catalogue  of  the  names,  with  the  terms  of  sei*- 
vice,  Regiments  in  which  the  service  was  rendered,  and 
how  and  why  the  same  was  terminated,  of  soldiers  from 
this  town  who  served,  or  entered  to  serve  not  less  than 
nine  months,  in  the  United  States  Army  engaged  in  the 
late  war  against  the  Southern  Rebellion: 

Jacob  Barker,  2  years  9  months,  21st  Connecticut,  taken  prisoner,  was  sick,  dis- 
charged upon  close  of  the  war. 

Ezra  P.  Bowen,  2  years  11  months,  18th  Connecticut,  discharged  after  the  ces- 
sation of  hostihties. 

Hiram  Brad  way,  10  months,  4Cth  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  close  of  his 
term. 

John  C.  Barley,  10  months,  51st  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  close  of  his 
term. 

Elmer  W.  Carder,  1  year  10  months,  27th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  discharged 
July  25,  18G3,  pensioned. 

Dlarcns  M.  Chaffee,  4  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  died  of  sickness,  in  the  ser- 
vice, January  30,  1863,  aged  20  years. 

Daniel  W.  Cole,  2  years  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  served  to  the  end  of 
the  war,  discharged. 

Horace  Converse,  3  years  10  months,  21st  Massachusetts  and  in  Hospital,  dis- 
cliarged  after  termination  of  the  war. 

Harvey  H.  Converse,  3  years  one  month,  27th  Massachusetts,  discharged  after 
the  rage  of  war  had  ceased. 

Edwin  L>  Cronch,  5  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  died  in  consequence, 
May  21,  1864,  aged  26  years. 

George  H.  Dillaher,  10  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  expiration 
of  his  term. 


43 

Charles  Dimmick,  2  years,  16th  and  11th  Massachusetts,  drafted,  discharged 
upon  termination  of  the  war. 

Warren  W.  Eager,  10  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  expiration 
of  bis  term. 

William  W.  Earl,  3  years,  10th  Massachusetts,  first  volunteer  from  this  town, 
discharged  at  close  of  his  term. 

Henry  F.  Felton,  6  months,  61st  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  a  peace  had 
been  conquered. 

John  T.  Gale,  2  years  4  months,  40th  Massachusetts  and  1st  Massachusetts  Cav- 
alry, discharged  after  the  war  closed. 

Eli  J.  GardQcr,  2  years  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  recovered, 
discharged  at  the  end  of  the  war. 

Michael  Harrington,  2  years  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  deserted,  joined  a 
Pennsylvania  Cavalry  Regiment,  discharged  at  close  of  the  war. 

Amos  Hobbs,  3  years,  21st  Massachusetts,  discharged  upon  expiration  of  his 
term. 

Edwin  Hobbs,  2  years  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  the  war 
had  ended. 

George  Holdsworth,  9  months,  22d  Connecticut,  went  as  a  substitute,  discharged 
at  the  end  of  his  term. 

Edwin  H.  Johnson,  2  years  2  months,  2d  Massachusetts  Heavy  Artillery,  dis- 
charged after  the  termination  of  the  war. 

James  A.  Johnson,  1  year  9  months,  1st  Connecticut  Artillery,  discharged  after 
the  war  had  terminated. 

Jnlins  M.  Lyon,  Lieutenant,  1  year  2  months,  46th  and  42d  Massachusetts,  each 
time  discharged  at  close  of  his  term. 

Lindorf  W.  Miller,  1  year  6  months,  1st  Massachusetts  Cavalry,  discharged  after 
the  war  had  ceased. 

Peter  W.  Moore,  8  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  May  30,  1863,  be- 
cause of  sickness. 

Frank  Moore,  10  months,  40th  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  close  of  his  term. 

Lanriston  L,  Monlton,  10  months,  51st  Massachusetts,  discharged  upon  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term. 

John  A.  Needham,  2  years  2  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  killed  in  battle  Octo- 
ber 13,  1864,  aged  nearly  23  years. 

W.  Eugene  Keedhani,  1  year  9  months,  Ist  Connecticut  Artillery,  discharged 
after  the  ending  of  the  war. 

Watson  W.  JVeedham,  10  months,  46  th  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  his  term 
of  service  expired. 

Carlos  D.  Needhani,  11  months,  4th  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  the  termina- 
tion of  the  war. 

WillJird  B.  Needham,  6  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded  May  15,  1864, 
taken  prisoner,  died  soon  after. 

Henry  0.  Nelson,  1  year  2  months,  21st  Massachusetts,  disabled  by  sickness, 
discharged  September  20,  1862. 

Royal  A.Nelson,  10  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  recovered,  discharged 
at  end  of  his  term. 


44 

William  A.  Phetteplace,  2  years  3  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  died 

two  days  after,  October  21,  1864,  aged  36  years. 
Anstin  Pratt,  8  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  died  next  day,  September 

20,  1864,  aged  48  years. 
Anstin  G.  Pratt,  3  months,  16th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  fell  into  the  enemy's 

hands,  no  after  report. 
Waterman  Penry,  4  years,  21st  Massachusetts,  re-enlisted,  discharged  after  the 

war  ended. 
William  J.  Ricketts,  3  years,  21st  Massachusetts,  discharged  upon  the  expiration 

of  his  term. 
Gilbert  Boatli,  3  years,    21st  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  his  term  had 

expired. 
George  H.  Shaw,  3  years,  3d  New  Hampshire,  discharged  at  the  end  of  his  term. 
James  Smith,  9  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  left  the  service  a  little  before  his 

Regiment  was  discharged. 
George  M.  Stewart,  Captain,  1  year  2  months,  46th  and  42d  Massachusetts,  dis- 
charged each  time  at  the  close  of  his  term. 
Henry  U.  Stewart,  2  years,  21st  Massachusetts,  taken  prisoner,  paroled,  dis- 
charged for  reason  of  sickness. 
Albert  Stewart,  1  year  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  killed  in  battle.  May  14, 

1864. 
John  Taylor,  10  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  at  the  end  of  his  term. 
Charles  F.  Thompson,  10  months,  46  th  Massachusetts,  discharged  upon  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term. 
James  M.  Thompson,  2  years  11  months,  18th  New  York,  discharged  after  the 

war  had  ceased  to  rage. 
Ell  H.  Thompson,  6  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  in  March,  1863,  be- 
cause of  sickness. 
Merritt  Towne,  3  years,  15th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  discharged  upon  termina- 
tion of  the  war. 
William  J.  Vizard,  3  years,  Stji  New  York  and  in  Hospital,  discharged  upon 

close  of  the  war. 
Porter  Walbridge,  11  months,  15th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  discharged,  pen^ 

sioned. 
George  H.  Walls,  3  years  2  months,  27  th  Massachusetts,  re-enlisted,  died  in  the 

service  of  sickness,  November  25,  1864. 
Emerson  0.  Webber,  10  months,  46th  Massachusetts,  discharged  after  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term. 
George  G.  Williams,  2  years  10  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  wounded,  recovered, 

discharged  after  the  war  ended. 
Martin  V.  B.  Williams,  3  years  11  months,  11th  Connecticut,  discharged  after 

the  war  was  over,  viz.  October  19,  1865. 
Charles  J.  Woods,  2  years  3  months,  34th  Massachusetts,  killed  in  battle,  Octo- 
ber 14,  1864,  had  both  legs  shot  off. 
Franklin  T.  Wright,  1  year,  34th  Massachusetts,  discharged  because  of  sickness, 
August  12,  1863. 


